• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.779-792
• /
• 2008

The consumption of a wide variety of food groups is considered one of the key components of nutritional adequacy. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Koreans includes the consumption of a variety of foods from diverse food groups as a component of a normal diet. A survey was conducted to evaluate the relationship between the dietary diversity of food groups and nutrient intake in elderly patients (age 65 and above) at a rural area in Korea (Inje). 296 subjects (111 male and 185 female) were probed in a 3 day 24-recall dietary survey. Subjects were grouped according to food group intake frequency, based on six food groups (grain, meat/fish/legume/egg, vegetable, fat/oil, dairy, fruit). Nutritional quality was evaluated according to the numbers of nutrients under EAR (Estimated Average Requirements), and MAR (mean adequacy ratios). The frequency of elderly subjects consuming a meat/fish/legumes/egg food group less than once per day was 29.4%. The frequency of elderly subjects consuming fat/oil food group less than once per day was 65.8%. The percentage of subjects who did not eat dairy food was 88.8%, and that of subjects who did not eat fruit was 57.5%. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to develop models relating nutritional quality to possible food group intake frequency factors. Using the number of nutrients under EAR as a dependent variable, the meat/fish/legume/egg food group intake frequency explained 9.9% of variance, followed by the grain group, fat/oil group, dairy group, and vegetable and fruit group (Model $R^2$=0.260). For mean nutrient adequacy ratio as a dependent variable, the model $R^2$ was 0.326. The results of this study suggest that a highly varied diet in elderly might be associated with better nutritional quality, as assessed by nutrient intake. Accordingly, dietary guidelines should take into consideration nutritional characteristics in order to improve intake from all major food groups and to provide a variety of foods in the diet.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.7-26
• /
• 2012

The success story of E-mart fascinated many academics and practitioners alike. Though E-mart began as a nameless discount store in Chang-dong, Seoul in 1993, it has transformed itself into a leading distribution company and one of the most powerful brands in Korea. Surprisingly, it achieved the great success against the two crises it met: the national economic crisis and the invasion of the global giant Walmart. The main objective of this case study is to formally examine how E-mart overcame the two crises. More specifically, this case study highlights the ways with which E-mart turned those difficulties into opportunities for growth. In our examination of the E-mart case, we could clearly see E-mart's competence and spirit that allowed it to turn crises into advantageous opportunities. E-mart attracted the customers who wanted value-oriented consumption by its positioning as the "Lowest price discount store", when consumer sentiment was frozen under the economic crisis. Furthermore, when a large-scale foreign discount store like Walmart entered the Korea market, E-mart built its core competencies as the 'Korean style discount store'. These ingenious positioning and efforts resulted in E-mart taking over their archrival, Walmart, and forced the global Goliath to exit the Korean market. The case of E-mart's effective crisis management teaches many important lessons and a few core lessons that apply to many companies. One such lesson is the importance of positioning which enabled E-mart to turn crises into opportunities. Granted, the strategy of positioning as the 'Korean style discount store', or 'Lowest price discount store' was possible due to overall support with cost reduction, development and management of their own system, an apprentice educate system, etc. based on an excellent selection of location of the store and efficient distribution systems. Still, the positioning strategy of E-mart was truly ground breaking in distancing itself from its competitors. The lessons from E-mart will help those companies currently in a stagnant situation or a crisis to turn their obstacles into great success.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.61 no.3
• /
• pp.349-360
• /
• 2023

This study aimed to develop, and evaluate the effectiveness of, a home economics dietary education program that could be used to improve high school students' sustainable dietary competencies. To achieve this goal, learning objectives and elements were selected for the education program to improve the students' sustainable dietary competency. The content validity of this program was verified with numerous experts. After implementing the new educational program, its effect on high school students' sustainable dietary competencies was assessed through pre- and post-tests. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, through the textbook analysis, the necessity of developing an educational program that can cultivate the three areas that constitute a sustainable diet (environment, health, and consideration) was confirmed. Second, a total of nine teaching and learning plans for sustainable dietary education programs were developed. From there, content validity verification was conducted by experts, indicating that the developed educational program was highly applicable in the field. Third, after the implementation, a survey was conducted based on a questionnaire consisting of 20 items related to three areas of sustainable diet, while the pre- and post-test assessment indicated statistically significant differences in all three areas: environment (pre: 3.40, post: 4.46, p<.001), health (pre: 3.15, post: 4.32, p<.001), and consideration (pre: 3.46, post: 4.48, p<.001). It is expected that the educational program developed in this study will be used as a basis for dietary education that fosters food citizenship in high school home economics courses.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.61 no.3
• /
• pp.493-503
• /
• 2023

Since ISO 20471 regulations(2013) were enacted, high-visibility clothing made of fluorescent fabric and retroreflective materials has been standardized to distinguish the wearers from the surrounding background in a dark place and to protect them. Accordingly, we made high-visibility safety clothing based on the international standards, and examined the positions of the retro-reflective materials on the attached sites to evaluate the suitability of the positions, by 3 types of safety clothing and the body regions when the wearers work or move. Two retro-reflective films of 5cm-horizontal lines were attached to the front/back of the upper-wear, and the lower-wear. Vertical lines were attached from the shoulder to the horizontal waistline. To analyze the motion in 3-dimension, we took pictured infrared-reflective markers on the retro-reflective film covered with yellow-tape on the front-side when 6 subjects wearing experimental garments performed 6 types of motions. According to the metronome tempo, the motions were performed for 30 seconds and repeated 6 motions ①~⑥ by 3 experimental clothing. Among the 6 motions, significant differences in the appearance rate of the markers by body region during the motions were found in 5 types except for motion ③. Significant differences by the post-hoc test were shown in motions ④ and ⑥ as well. Therefore, for high-visibility safety clothing, it is necessary to anticipate the worker's motion and consider the attaching position of the retro-reflective material. It is considered desirable to attach the retro-reflective materials to several places where the clothing is hard to wrinkle.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.647-661
• /
• 2023

This study explored the relationship between Generation MZ female consumers' participation in sports activity, consumption of body-exposing sportswear, body-esteem, and appearance management behavior. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty Generation MZ female consumers who regularly participate in sports activity and consume body-exposing sportswear. Based on transcriptions of in-depth interviews conducted with research subjects, the researcher and two assistant researchers collectively categorized and compared common characteristics found in their responses, categorized according to themes using units of words/terms and paragraphs. The main finding were as follows. Firstly, Generation MZ female consumers participated in various sports activities for an average of approximately one hour, three times per week. The effects of such participation were improvements in physical and psychological health. Secondly, Generation MZ female consumers considered aesthetical, functional, and economical factors when they consumed body-exposing sportswear, regardless of the activity in which they participated. This sportswear served to increase the efficiency of exercise and also played a motivational role. Thirdly, the overall body-esteem of Generation MZ female consumers who participated in sports activity regularly and consumed body-exposing sportswear was high. Fourthly, Generation MZ female consumers who regularly participated in sports activity and consumed body-exposing sportswear were practicing active appearance management behavior in order to show how their body had been shaped by sports activity. In addition, they were pursuing four self-images: "polished image pursue", "self-care image pursue", "natural image pursue", and "trustworthy image pursue".

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.687-707
• /
• 2023

This study was conducted to obtain useful information on the development of the future second-hand fashion market by obtaining information on the current situation through unstructured text data distributed as news articles related to 'purchase of second-hand clothing' and 'purchase of second-hand luxury goods'. Text-based unstructured data was collected on a daily basis from Naver news from January 1st to December 31st, 2022, using 'purchase of second-hand clothing' and 'purchase of second-hand luxury goods' as collection keywords. This was analyzed using text mining, and the results are as follows. First, looking at the frequency, the collection data related to the purchase of second-hand luxury goods almost quadrupled compared to the data related to the purchase of second-hand clothing, indicating that the purchase of second-hand luxury goods is receiving more social attention. Second, there were common words between the data obtained by the two collection keywords, but they had different words. Regarding second-hand clothing, words related to donations, sharing, and compensation sales were mainly mentioned, indicating that the purchase of second-hand clothing tends to be recognized as an eco-friendly transaction. In second-hand luxury goods, resale and genuine controversy related to the transaction of second-hand luxury goods, second-hand trading platforms, and luxury brands were frequently mentioned. Third, as a result of clustering, data related to the purchase of second-hand clothing were divided into five groups, and data related to the purchase of second-hand luxury goods were divided into six groups.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.363-375
• /
• 2023

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with adolescent obesity, as well as any new factors that correlated with a change in the rate of obesity over time. Methods: The study used 5-yearly data collected by the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey starting from the year 2006 up until 2021 (data from 2nd, 7th, 11th, and 17th surveys were analyzed). Factors such as demographics, dietary factors, health behavioral factors, and mental health factors were studied. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 27.0, employing chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: This study included data from a total of 255,200 participants. Factors contributing to obesity varied with time. Over the survey duration of 15 years, low academic achievement, parents with low levels of education, low frequency of fruit consumption, low frequency of fast food intake, long periods of being seated, and high levels of stress were significantly associated with a high rate of obesity. Factors that showed a new correlation with an increase in obesity rates included living with single parents, low frequency of muscle strengthening exercises, and experiencing intense sadness and despair in the past year. Factors that were correlated with a change in obesity rates over time included household economic status, frequency of carbonated beverage consumption, frequency of intense physical activity, and frequency of alcohol consumption. Breakfast intake and smoking were not significantly associated with obesity rates in the 15-year period. Conclusions: While several factors associated with obesity remained consistent over time, several new factors have emerged in response to social, economic, and environmental changes contributed to a change in obesity rate over time. Therefore, to prevent and manage adolescent obesity, continuous research into the new emergent factors contributing to obesity is needed.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.62 no.1
• /
• pp.15-32
• /
• 2024

The purpose of this study was to analyze the research trends and co-author networks of academic articles published in the Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association from 2010 to 2022. The network analysis was conducted using Excel and NetMiner 4.4, and the results were as follows. First, the number of published articles has been maintained at around 40 per year since 2019. By field, most articles were published in the field of child studies and family studies, followed by consumer studies, home management, clothing studies, home economics education, food and nutrition, and housing. The research methods were primarily quantitative (71.61%). Second, the most common keywords in the titles of the published articles were "influence" and "relationship", with "influence", "consumer", "mediating effect", "parent", and "control" identified as influential keywords. Third, the published articles were categorized into nine topics based on subject matter, while the number of topic types varied by year. Fourth, the total number of authors of the 627 articles was 712, with 1.92 authors per article, as well as the number of authors who published two or fewer articles accounted for 85.5% of the total. By institution, Yonsei University had the highest number of authors and the highest number of published articles, while Korea National Open University played a leading role in the network of co-authors by institution. This study is significant in providing basic data for the future development of the Korean Home Economics Association and the field of home economics.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.10-23
• /
• 2024

This study examines the changes in attractiveness and social perception of mask wearers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID-19, masks were seen as a sign of infection, decreasing the wearer's attractiveness. However, with the widespread normalization of mask-wearing during the pandemic, the perception mechanisms have become more complex. The attractiveness and social perception of mask wearers now vary based on factors such as the wearer's baseline attractiveness, race, and attitudes toward masks. Consequently, research findings on perception changes due to mask-wearing have been inconsistent. This inconsistency is due to the lack of standardized experimental methods and the failure to account for individual differences among participants, as well as insufficient theoretical background in the studies. From a psychiatric perspective, it is essential to formulate and test new hypotheses centered around the psychological mechanisms related to the human behavioral immune system when studying attractiveness perception during a pandemic. Notably, attention should be given to how differences in the activation of individuals' behavioral immune systems influence perceptions of mask wearers. Understanding these dynamics can provide crucial insights into how social perceptions and aversions impact mental health, thereby shedding light on various psychiatric issues that arise during infectious disease outbreaks.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.31-41
• /
• 2024

PURPOSE: This study examined the distribution dynamics and proposed determinants, including morphological measurements, clinical laboratory tests, and lifestyle factors among young Korean men aged 20 to 29 years with the coexistence of age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and obesity (CALSMO). METHODS: Six hundred and sixty-six participants were divided into two groups based on their skeletal muscle mass index, with 12 individuals categorized in the CALSMO group and the remaining 654 in the normal group. The proposed determinants variables consisted of three main components: morphological measurements, clinical laboratory tests, and lifestyle factors. The morphological measurement variables were height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and skeletal muscle mass index. The clinical laboratory tests were fasting glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol levels, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The lifestyle factors considered were alcohol consumption and tobacco use. Complex sampling analysis was performed for the evaluation. RESULTS: The distribution dynamics were determined to be 1.81(1.02-3.18) %. Morphological factors, such as height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and skeletal muscle mass index, showed significant differences (p < .05). The clinical laboratory test variables, specifically the fasting glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol levels, also exhibited significant differences (p < .05). The lifestyle factor, alcohol consumption, also showed a significance (p < .05). CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the distribution dynamics. The proposed determinants in young Korean individuals with CALSMO are height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, skeletal muscle mass index, fasting glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol levels, and alcohol consumption.