• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a mobile-based self-management health alarm (MSHA) program for modifying obese children's lifestyle based on the information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model and to test its feasibility. Methods: A methodological study for the development of the MSHA program and pilot study with a one-group pretest-posttest design for feasibility testing was conducted. The MSHA program was designed to provide obesity-related information (I), monitor daily diet and exercise, provide motivational text messages (M), and enhance healthy diet and exercise skills (B) via a mobile-based web platform. In the feasibility test, six obese children participated in the 4-week program, and the number of days per week that they achieved their goals and differences in metabolic components were assessed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Participants successfully achieved their diet and exercise goals≥5 days per week. Body mass index (z=-1.99, p=.046), waist circumference (z=-2.20, p=.028), and triglyceride levels (z=-2.21, p=.027) significantly decreased. Conclusion: The MSHA program showed positive effects on health behaviors and metabolic syndrome risk. The program may be effective in improving metabolic syndrome in obese children by promoting self-health management behaviors.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to examine nurses' healthy behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was adapted, and data were collected from 300 hospital nurses between August and November 2021. The nurses' characteristics, healthy behaviors, COVID-19 stress levels, health self-efficacy, and nursing professional pride were self-reported using structured questionnaires. Multivariable linear regressions were conducted to identify factors related to nurses' healthy behaviors. Results: Healthy lifestyle was the lowest among the subscales of healthy behaviors. Nurses' healthy behaviors were related to age (B=0.15, p=.021), COVID-19 stress level (B=-0.08, p=.007), nursing professional pride (B=0.19, p<.001), and health self-efficacy (B=0.38, p<.001). Conclusion: To enhance nurses' healthy lifestyles during the pandemic, organizational support is needed, such as ensuring facilities for rest or physical activities accessible from the hospital and supplying healthy food in hospitals. Younger nurses, nurses with high levels of COVID-19 stress, and nurses with lower health self-efficacy may benefit from hospital organizations that provide more support and guidance in promoting health behaviors. Furthermore, hospital organizations should promote professional pride by empowering nurses' efforts and reinforcing their values.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.458-465
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• 2012

This study aims to determine the association between obesity-related behaviors (dietary practices, physical activity and body image) and body weight status among adolescents. A total of 382 adolescents (187 males and 195 females) aged 13 to 15 years in Kajang, Selangor participated in this study. Majority of the respondents were Malays (56.0%), followed by Chinese (30.1%) and Indians (13.9%). Dietary practices, physical activity and body image of the adolescents were assessed through the eating behaviors questionnaire, two-day dietary record, two-day physical activity record and multi-dimensional body image scale (MBIS), respectively. Body weight and height were measured by trained researchers. The prevalence of overweight and obesity (19.5%) was about twice the prevalence of underweight (10.5%). About two-thirds of the respondents (72.3%) skipped at least one meal and half of them (56.2%) snacked between meals with a mean energy intake of $1,641{\pm}452$ kcal/day. More than half of the respondents (56.8%) were practicing sedentary lifestyle with a mean energy expenditure of $1,631{\pm}573$ kcal per day. Energy intake (r = 0.153, P < 0.05), physical activity (r = 0.463, P < 0.01) and body image (r = 0.424, P < 0.01) were correlated with BMI. However, meal skipping, snacking and energy expenditure per kg body weight were not associated with body weight status. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that body image, physical activity and energy intake contributed significantly in explaining body weight status of the adolescents. In short, overweight and obesity were likely to be associated not only with energy intake and physical activity, but also body image. Hence, promoting healthy eating, active lifestyle and positive body image should be incorporated in future obesity prevention programmes in adolescents.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.400-411
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• 2017

This study aimed to maximize the effectiveness of motionbeat rhythm exercise on obese women and its applicability in all fields of sports. In addition, this study aimed to propose a plan to promote continuous exercise for people to incorporate as a means to improve healthy lifestyle. The results showed several effects of EEG on health promoting behaviors. Electroencephalogram (Alpha Power) of the left prefrontal cortex showed to have a significant effect on health promotion activities, with respect to stress management, in the motion beat rhythm exercise group. Considering all research findings, we found that the 8-week motion beat exercise can be used as an appropriate and effective social sport program for overweight women as it brings forth positive changes in the prefrontal cortex that maximizes the pleasantness of and interest in health promotion activities relating to stress management. Moreover, we suggest that it can be a method to create an environment for overweight people to continuously participate in exercises by providing results from fun and relaxingactivities, rather than just creating simple physical effects.

• Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.314-324
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze research and development projects in mental health services in Korea, using priority evaluation of mental health promotion policies to determine direction of the service. Methods: An online survey was conducted that targeted experts in the mental health service regarding promotion of mental health in Korea in 2016. The survey was based on 32 policy projects that resulted from 12 strategies according to 4 policy objectives. Results: Analysis of 32 mental health projects were assessed regarding the possibility of technology development success, magnitude of the ripple effect, and necessity of a national response. It was observed that 3 policy projects relevant to suicide, had a high relative priority. This was followed by policies for improvement of health insurance and the medical benefit cost system, and policies for reinforcement of crisis psychological support such as those for disaster victims. Conclusion: The prioritization of mental health services should place an emphasis on promotion of a healthy mental lifestyle, rehabilitation support for patients with serious mental illness, and reinforcement of social safety networks for suicide prevention.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1-24
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• 2020

Purpose An increase in the number of fitness apps across the world is a testament to the growing interest in health. As focus on medical services shifted from treatment to prevention, this type of app plays an essential role in promoting one's health and exercise management. Yet little has been known about practical effects of fitness apps in existing literature thus this study searches for factors that affect daily use of fitness apps and examine the relationship between app usage and exercise patterns. Design/methodology/approach This study surveyed people who used Cashwalk, the pedometer app for a minimum of a week to analyze reasons why they used the app. Particpants' exercise patterns were also recorded. By examining survey results of fitness app users and developing a research model based on the Customer Value Theory, this study provides real-life factors to the fitness and smart health care industry that will adopt a proactive lifestyle pattern. Findings Empirical analysis proved properties such as the complexity of fitness apps, monetary rewards, exercise monitoring and the enjoyment of using fitness apps contribute to using fitness apps on a daily basis. Furthermore, more daily use of fitness apps was shown to have a greater impact on exercise. This study also confirmed that social comparison does not affect the daily use of fitness apps and the amount of exercise, and the habitual walking was proved to directly affect the amount of exercise.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4427-4432
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• 2016

Background: Fear and fatalism have been proposed as factors affecting breast cancer screening, but the evidence is not strong. This study aimed to determine relationships of fear and fatalism with breast cancer screening behavior among Tabriz women in Iran. Materials and Methods: In a cross- sectional study, 370 women referred to 12 health centers in Tabriz were selected with two-stage cluster sampling and data regarding breast cancer screening, fatalism and fear of breast cancer were collected respectively with a checklist for screening performance, Champions Fear and Pow Fatalism Questionnaires. Data were analyzed by logistic regression with SPSS software version 16. Results: Only 43% and 23% of participants had undergone breast self- examination and clinical breast examination. Among women older than 40 years, 38.2% had mammography history and only 2.7% of them had done it annually. Although fatalism and fear had a stimulating effects on breast cancer screening performance th relationships were not significant (P>0.05). There was a negative significant correlation between fear and fatalism (r= -0.24, p=0.000). On logistic regression analysis, age (OR=1.037, p<0.01) and income status (OR= 0.411, p<0.05) significantly explained BSE and age (OR=1.051, p<0.01) and body mass index (OR= 0.879, p<0.01) explained CBE. Also BMI (OR= 0.074, p<0.05) and income status (OR=0.155, p<0.01) was significantly effective for mammography following. Conclusions: Breast cancer screening behavior is inappropriate and affected by family livelihood status and lifestyle leads to weight gain, so that for promoting of screening behaviors, economic support to families, lifestyle modification and public education are suggested.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.27-44
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to provide foundational data for preventing adolescents smoking by analyzing the relationship between adolescents' lifestyles and smoking experiences and identifying influencing factors. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using the 17th (2021) Youth Health Behavior Survey data, encompassing 54,848 students from 796 schools. Variables included general characteristics, smoking status, lifestyle habits, physical activity, sleep patterns, and stress perception. Frequency analysis was used to examine general characteristics, while further analysis employed frequency analysis and the Pearson Chi-square test to compare lifestyle differences based on smoking presence. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was employed to determine factors influencing smoking experience, with IBM SPSS Statistics 28 used for all analyses at a significance level of p<.05. Results: Analysis revealed with general characteristics that the group with smoking experience exhibited a higher proportion of male students (67.4%) compared to the non-smoking group (50.1%) (p<.001). Analysis revealed that the smoking group was more likely to skip breakfast (27.7%), not consume fruit (17.8%), and consume fast food more than three times daily (0.9%). Furthermore, a higher percentage of smokers engaged in 60 minutes or more of breathless physical activity (8.4%) seven times a week, reported insufficient fatigue recovery through sleep (21.6%), and experienced very severe normal stress (17.2%) (p<.001). Analysis of the relationship between lifestyle and smoking indicated increased likelihood of smoking with zero breakfast consumption (OR=1.759, p<.001) and increased fruit consumption (OR=1.921, p<.001), while zero fast food consumption decreased smoking likelihood (OR=0.206, p<.001). Adequate sleep-related fatigue recovery reduced smoking likelihood (OR=0.458, p<.001), whereas increased stress elevated it (OR=1.260, p<.05). Conclusion: Adolescents' lifestyle habits significantly correlated with their smoking experiences, highlighting the necessity of considering lifestyle factors in smoking prevention strategies. This study provides crucial insights for promoting healthy lifestyle changes to prevent smoking among youth.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.218-227
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing health promotion behavior of fire officers in Korea. Methods: It was a descriptive study. The subjects were comprised of 104 fire officers by self-reported questionnaires from January to February 2012. The instruments used for this study were a health belief, self-efficacy and health promotion lifestyle profile II. The data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 14.0. Results: The scores of health promotion behavior of fire officers were 2.76 (on a 4-point scale) and of health belief were 2.98 (on a 4-point scale), followed by perceived benefits at 3.45, perceived seriousness at 3.02, perceived sensitiveness at 2.82, perceived barriers at 2.23, and self-efficacy at 3.04 (on a 4-point scale). The health promotion behavior was very closely correlated with the health belief (r=0.49, p<.001). In the sub region, perceived benefit was correlated (r=0.28 p=.005) and the perceived seriousness (r=0.38, p<.001), the perceived sensitiveness (r=0.36, p<.001), and self-efficacy (r=0.55, p<.001) were correlated. Two significant variables influencing health promotion behavior of fire officer were self-efficacy and perceived seriousness (explained 41.0%). Conclusion: It suggested that self-efficacy and perceived seriousness should be considered when developing a fire officers's health promoting program.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2018

Background: This study aimed to examine (1) the patterns of online health information search with respect to seeking and scanning, and (2) how online search, along with eHealth literacy, predicts perceived information usefulness in the context of diet and weight control. Methods: Online survey was conducted with 299 adults from the consumer panel recruited for the purpose of quality assessment of the Korean National Health Information Portal in 2016. We conducted paired sample t-test and multiple logistic regression to address the research questions. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 24.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and SAS ver. 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Results: Of the respondents, 38.8% were 'high seek-high scanners,' 35.8% were 'low seek-low scanners,' 13.0% were 'high seek-low scanners,' and 12.4% were 'low seek-high scanners.' eHealth literacy was a significant, positive predictor of online information scanning (odds ratio [OR], 2.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41-4.29), but not for online information seeking (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.00-3.05). With respect to perceived usefulness of online information seeking, online seeking (OR, 4.90; 95% CI, 2.19-11.00) and eHealth literacy (OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.11-4.75) were significant predictors. Perceived usefulness of online scanning had a significant association with online scanning (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.08-5.22), but not with eHealth literacy. Conclusion: To increase the effectiveness of the health policy for online information search and related outcomes in the context of diet and weight control, it is important to develop education programs promoting eHealth literacy.