• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.201-206
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• 2011

Purpose: Westernized eating habits have been associated with earlyage menstruation, which increases the incidence of dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome among adolescent girls. We therefore surveyed changes in menarche timing and the general menstrual characteristics of adolescent girls in Seoul, Korea. Methods: We surveyed 538 teenage girls who visited our hospital between July and November 2007. Items explored included age at menarche, general menstrual characteristics, occurrence of premenstrual syndrome and treatment thereof, and an association between present dysmenorrhea and a family history of the condition. Results: Average age at menarche was 12.6 years, with 29% (n=156) subjects beginning menstruation at age 12 years. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 82% (n=435). The main symptoms were abdominal (53.2%) and lower back pain (34.2%), and 15.2% of girls who experienced such symptoms required medication. Present dysmenorrhea, and a family history thereof, were statistically correlated (P<0.05). In addition, 58.8% (n=316) of teenage girls had symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. The most frequent psychological symptoms were fatigue (36.4%) and nervousness (38.7%), whereas the most common physical symptom was menstrual cramps (46.5%). Most subjects (87.6%) tolerated the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome without medication; 11.4% took medicines including painkillers; but only 0.1% of subjects visited a doctor. Conclusion: The average age at menarche in Korean girls was 12.6 years, thus younger than in the past. Most teenage girls experienced dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome, but few consulted a doctor. Organized treatment plans are required to manage menstrual problems in teenage girls.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.457-467
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• 2010

In this research, we examined a total of 681 children(kindergarten, schoolchild, and adolescents) who live in Seoul and Gyoung-gi in 2007. The parents of the respondents seemed to have a normal average body mass index, and the majority of the parents had bachelor's degrees. Across all age groups, most of the fathers were office workers and the mothers were mostly house wives. The most preferred food was meats, and the least preferred food was vegetables. Results showed that all age groups have a snack once or twice a day, except boys from the schoolchild group. All age groups liked ice cream, fruits, and juices in their snacks. For eating-out, boys from the kindergarten group mostly preferred Chinese food, girls from the infant group mostly preferred Korean food. In addition, boys and girls of the schoolchild and adolescent groups mostly preferred Korean food. For cooking methods, the result of preference showed that boys from the kindergarten group preferred roasted meats, and girls from the kindergarten group preferred roasted meats, steamed rib and fish. Both boys and girls in the schoolchild group preferred roast meats, and boys from the adolescent group preferred stir-fry and girls from adolescent group preferred pot stew.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.27-42
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine: (1) the relationships among internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, body comparison, and body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls; and (2) whether or not body comparison mediates the relationship between internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance and body dissatisfaction. The participants consisted of 291 girls from fifth through ninth grades. The data were collected by means of questionnaires given in classroom settings. The findings are as follows: there are significant bivariate correlations among internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, body comparison, and body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, body comparison partially mediates the relationship between internalization of sociocultural attitude towards appearance and body dissatisfaction. These results seem to indicate that the idea that there are multiple standards of beauty and individuality for every person should be promoted, and this in turn could lower the risk of body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.799-807
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• 1996

This study was done to compare the effects of managing obesity using a behavior modification program and an aerobic exercise in adolescent girls. Thirty three subjects were selected from one girls' middle school located in Seoul. Seventeen girls participated in the behavior modification program by joining 60-90 minute group sessions weekly. The aerobic exercise program was given to 16 girls three times per week for 60 minutes each. These iterventions continued for eight weeks from October 17 to December 10, 1995. The data were obtained before and after the interventions by measuring degree of obesity, body weight, blood pressure, serum lipid, %body fat, and waist to hip ratio(WHR). Data ware analysed by using paired t-test. The results are as follows. 1. Subjects in both the behavior modification and the aerobic exercise groups showed significant decrese in the degree of obesity, body weight, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, %body fat and fat mass after the 8-week interventions. 2. Systolic bood pressure, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and waist to hip ratio were significantly decreased after the 8-week intervention in the behavior modification program group while triglyceride was significantly decreased after the 8-week intervention in the aerobic exercise program group. These findings indicate that both behavior modification and aerobic exercise programs are good strategies for managing obesity among adolescent girls.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.73-87
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• 2011

Objectives: This study is to investigate life style and weight control based on the body mass index, and tongue diagnosis in adolescent girls. Help controling unnecessary weight and establishing proper understanding of desirable body images and healthy life for adolescents are expected. Methods: The questionnaire surveys and physical examinations were conducted to examine the life style, weight-control behaviors, and the health status of 173 adolescent girls in Jeonju. Among the students surveyed, 162 answered seriously and were accepted as subjects for the study. Results: 1. The mean height was 160.4 cm and weight was 54.21 kg. The mean BMI of the girls was 21.1 kg/m2, which is normal. The percentages of the normal weight group (71.6%), overweight group (16.7%), obesity group (9.9%), underweight group (1.9%) were shown respectively. 2. The oriental medicine doctor examined the tongue diagnosis. The thin and white tongue fur was the most common (20.7%). This diagnosis showed no statistical significance to BMI. 3. The ideal height for the girls was 165 cm, and the ideal weight was 49 kg. 4. A considerable number of girls (50.6%) thought that a thin body figure was the most beautiful body shape for the women. 5. Even though the percentages of an actual overweight or obese group were 26.6%, 42.0% of the girls thought that they were plump. 6. 94.83% of the normal weight group concerned about the weight regulation. 7. Many girls were dissatisfied with their own body shape, and 86.9% of girls regarded being in a shape was important. 70.69% of the normal weight group answered that they were under stress of their body shapes. Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that there are serious misconceptions on body shapes of the adolescent girls, and mostly, unnecessary and inadequate weight control behaviors were done. Therefore, establishing adequately education on their desirable body images and healthy life is needed for the adolescent girls. In this study, there is no significant relationship between BMI and tongue diagnosis. For the number of subjects is not enough, further study on the relationship between the two is expected.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.12
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• pp.1257-1262
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• 2006

The age of puberty represents a very critical time in the life history of every young woman. The menarche stands as primary indicator of the onset of sexual maturation in females. By late adolescence, 75% of girls experience some problem associated with menstruation. Delayed, irregular, painful, and heavy menstrual bleeding are leading reasons for physician office visits by adolescents, and dysmenorrhea is the leading reason for school absenteeism among girls. This article discusses normal menstrual function during adolescence, then reviews the clinical presentation, evaluation, and management of adolescent dysmenorrhea, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, amenorrhea, and polycystic ovary syndrome.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.113-117
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• 2006

The main objective of this study is to provide numerical guideline for the development of educational environment about girls in the adolescent period ($14{\sim}16\;years$) through comparison and analysis on physical standards of nation (report published in 1997). The sample for this work was chosen from data which were collected and measured by Size Korea during two years ($2003{\sim}2004$). In order to analyze feature of the somatotype of girls in the adolescent period, analysis was performed about 858 subjects on 22 body parts such as height (6 parts), width (3 parts), thickness (3 parts), circumference (4 parts), length (5 parts) and body weight. For the specific comparison on somatotype, $R\'{o}hrer$ index and Mollison's comparison graph were used. The result of this study enables us to know the important factors which affect the somatotype of girls in the adolescent period ($14{\sim}16\;years$) and will be utilized in various fields such as design of classroom, student uniforms, facilities and equipments for education, etc. According to the result of this study, future research will be focused on not only development of educational facilities but also uniform patterns of female students. In addition, the research on development of equipments which are being used by girls in the adolescent period ($14{\sim}16\;years$) will be another future research.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.513-522
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• 2019

This study analyzes the characteristics of somatotype changes of girls from the ages of 13 to 18 that provide basic data on clothing construction for middle and high school girls. We use data obtained from body measurements of 1,590 adolescent girls 13 to 18 years of age provided in the 6th national anthropometric survey report. The differences among the age groups for 56 direct measurements were analyzed by ANOVA, and the structures of the differences by SNK (Students-Newman-Keuls test) were analyzed. The two major growth ages were 'ages 13-14' and 'ages 15-16'. The first major growth ages focused on all measurement items of height, length, circumference, breadth, depth and other items. The second one focused on measurement items of height and length of torso, circumference, and breadth of lower body. The major growth pattern of the age groups was 'ages 13<14&15<16&17&18' which appeared focused on the height and length items of upper body and torso, the width items of lower body and the circumference items of upper body and lower body. The measurement items of front length like waist front length, N.P. to B.P to waistline, N.P. to B.P., and B.P. to B.P. showed the growth pattern for 'ages 13<14<15<16<17&18'.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.117-131
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of adolescent self-conscious emotion, empathy, forgiveness and prosocial behavior across gender and grade, to analyze the difference between the correlations among prosocial behavior and other variables across gender and grade, and to investigate the effects of adolescent self-conscious emotion, empathy, forgiveness on prosocial behavior in each gender and grade group. The subjects were 272 adolescents who were recruited by purposive sampling in the Chungbuk area. The results indicated that the empathy of girls was higher than that of boys. Boys showed a stronger correlation between prosocial behavior and guilt than girls. Next, boys' prosocial behavior was predicted by cognitive empathy, guilt, and pride, whereas girls' prosocial behavior was predicted by forgiveness toward others, pride, cognitive empathy and emotional empathy. Last, middle school students' prosocial behavior was predicted by pride and guilt, whereas that of high school students' was predicted by cognitive empathy, guilt, pride, and forgiveness toward others and the situation. In conclusion, self-conscious emotions, empathy, and forgiveness all predicted adolescent prosocial behavior but in different ways across gender and grade. It implies that adolescents need diverse educational programs according to their gender and grade, to promote their self-conscious emotions, moral emotions, and prosocial behavior.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.694-700
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• 2005

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between peer and parental factors and smoking behavior of adolescents in urban cities and to investigate whether there are gender differences. Methods. A stratified and random cluster sampling design was used to obtain a cross-sectional sample of high school students in two urban cities. The sample consisted of 512 Korean adolescents (256 boys and 256 girls) aged 15 to 18 (mean age 16.7$\pm$.58). Self-reported questionnaire consisted of adolescent smoking behavior, peer smoking and alcohol use, parental smoking and alcohol use, father-mother-peer relationships and perceived social support from peers and parents. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the hypothesized model. Results. The findings showed that peer and parental factors accounted for $30.3\%$ of the variance in adolescent smoking and peer smoking was most strongly associated with adolescent smoking behavior (OR = 10.18). In addition, peer smoking (OR = 4.71), peer alcohol use (OR = 4.21), and peer relationships (OR = 1.03) were significantly associated with boys' smoking behavior. In girls, peer smoking (OR = 26.50) and parent smoking (OR = 5.48) were significantly associated with smoking behavior. Conclusions. Consistent with previous findings, peer smoking is a significant factor on adolescent smoking. Specifically, boys would be more influenced from peers than girls. Therefore, smoking prevention programs for adolescents might be focused on the social context such as, resisting to peer pressure and enhancing the self-efficacy to control.