• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.122-130
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• 2008

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the associated factors of the perceived health status of the elderly in Korea and to provide basic data for developing nursing interventions for the elderly's health management. Methods: This study used a descriptive correlational research design. The subjects of this study were 335 elderly people over 60 yr living in an urban city. Data were collected through personal interviews using questionnaires from September 2006 to March 2007. Empirical indicators of perceived health status were measured by SF-36, nutritional screening initiative (NSI), activities of daily living (ADL) Index, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scale. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical regression. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 72.8 and 57.0% of subjects were female. 41.5% of variance in physical health was explained by nutrition, ADL, IADL, and the number of years attending school. Among them the most important factor was ADL. 13.2% of variance in mental health was explained the number of family, nutrition, and IADL. Among them the most important factor was nutrition. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop supportive interventions for improving the perceived health status of elderly people by considering the most important factors shown in this study.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.155-166
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• 1985

This study was carried out to compare the nutritional status with food preference of subjects in eight constitutional groups on the view point of constitutional medicine. The constitutions of 124 college women was classified by Kwon's theory. Food preference of the subjects was surveyed in accordance with the suggested foods for each constitution and the health status was investigated by Cornell Medical Index. The following determinations were also made to compare food preference score with the nutritional status : Hb, Hct, WBC, serum levels of albumin, protein, IgG, IgA, IsM, $C_3$, Triglyceride, cholesterol, and total lipids, and lipoprotein fraction ratio. The distribution of the constitution revealed that Jupito individuals accounts 51.6%, the most followed by ; Saturno, 21.8%: Hespero, 10.5%: Jupita, 8.1%: Hespera, 3.2%: Mercurio, 3.2%, no subject belonged to satura. There were no difference among constitutional groups in food preference score, health status and the values of most blood components. Only significant difference was that the percentage of mental complaints in Mercurio was lowest and serum IgG level in Jupito was the highest among groups. Correlation between values of blood component and food preference score shows variety of different trends. However, the results suggested that the better food consumption of the subjects was in accordance with the suggested foods for the constitution, the better the nutritional status of the subjects was.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.210-222
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• 2004

In recent years, the number and proportion of Korean elderly have grown rapidly, and elderly individuals show a disproportionate risk for poor nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of sociodemographic background to nutrient intake of persons 65 years of age or older, living in 15 cities in Korea. Data on 1973 subjects (603 males, 1370 females), who participated in the Korean Elderly Nutrition Survey (2000), were analyzed. Their mean age was 72.3 years and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.2 kg/$m^2$. Basic sociodemographic data were obtained through personal interviews. The 98-item semi-food frequency questionnaire, developed and previously validated for Korean middle-aged and elderly subjects, was administered. “Percentage of subjects who consumed under 75％ Korean RDA,” “number of nutrients consumed below 75％ Korean RDA,” “mean nutrient adequacy ratio,” and “nutrient density” were used to determine nutritional status. Male elderly had better nutritional quality than female elderly. Nutritional quality decreased with age, especially in older elderly (over 75). Elderly who were underweight (BMI 〈 20 kg/$m^2$) showed poorer nutritional quality than those who were normal weight (BMI 20∼25 kg/$m^2$) and overweight (BMI $\geq$ 25 kg/$m^2$). Elderly who lived alone had significantly poorer nutritional quality than those who lived with a spouse, and/or with children. Lower education level and economic dependence also showed lower nutritional quality. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of specific sociodemographic factors on nutritional quality. For number of nutrients under 75％ RDA as a dependent variable, education level explained 4.8％ of the variance, followed by living status, age, body mass index, gender, and living expense support (Model $R^2$ = 0.091). For mean nutrient adequacy ratio as a dependent variable, model $R^2$ was 0.098. Therefore, sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, body mass index, living status, educational level, and economic status influenced elderly nutrition status. These results indicate that an elderly nutrition intervention should focus on subjects who are poorly educated, living alone, age 75 or older, and/or underweight.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.162-178
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• 2021

The study examined the perceived health status, dietary habits, and health-related lifestyle habits of middle-aged men and women in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas. The survey was conducted on 670 individuals (320 men and, 350 women), aged 40~64 years, in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas. The online and written data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 25.0 program. Although there was a significant difference in the perceived health status (P < 0.01), there were no significant differences in the subjective stress and the current disease status according to sex. For dietary habits, the scores for fruit intake (P < 0.05), meat and fish intake (P < 0.05), milk and dairy products intake (P < 0.01), and seaweed intake (P < 0.05) were higher in women than men. The scores for three-meal eating (P < 0.05) and water intake (P < 0.01) were higher in men than women. For the health-related habits, alcohol-drinking frequency, daily alcohol consumption, smoking experience, and daily smoking were higher in men than women (P < 0.001). In contrast, caffeinated beverage intake, exercise frequency, and daily smart-phone, computer, and TV using time were similar in both sexes. The meal-eating time was faster in men than women (P < 0.01). For dietary behavior changes, only appetite showed a significant gender difference (P < 0.05). This study provides essential information on the perceived health status, dietary habits, and health-related lifestyle habits in middle-aged men and women. Nevertheless, further research and a practical nutrition program will be needed to solve undesirable dietary habits and improve the health and lifestyle of middle-aged adults according to sex.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.512-520
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The 6-23 months for infants is the longest period in the "first 1,000 days" of life. This period is very important for child development, so complementary feeding (CF) practices should be optimized to maximize children's potential for growth and development. The aim of this study was to analyze the CF practices and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months. SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, 392 children aged 6-23 months were selected using stratified random sampling. Socio-demographic data were collected through interviews. CF practices, collected by interviews and repeated 24-hour food recall method, were the timely introduction of CF, minimum meal frequency, dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet, consumption food rich in proteins and vitamin A. Nutritional status was assessed using the indicators of underweight, wasting and stunting. To analyze the association between socio-demographic indicators and CF with nutritional status, the chi-square test with a confidence interval of 95% was used. RESULTS: Results showed that 39% were exclusively breastfed, only 61% received prolonged breastfeeding and 50% received timely introduction of CF. Minimum meal frequency was met by 74% of subjects, but dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet were only realized in 50% and 40% of the children, respectively. The prevalence of underweight, wasting, and stunting were 26%, 23%, and 28%, respectively. Age of the child, birth order, birth weight, parents' education level, family size and incidence of fever and diarrhea during the previous two weeks were associated with underweight, while child's birth order, fathers' education level, mother's age, family size, completion of the age-appropriate vaccination and fish consumption frequency were associated with wasting. Age of the child, incidence of fever and acute respiratory infection, and fortified food consumption were associated with stunting. CONCLUSIONS: Suboptimal CF practices and high prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting were found among children aged 6-23 months old in Aceh. These results highlight the need to improve CF and nutritional status.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the associations of food security with socio-demographic characteristics, nutrient intakes and mental health status among older Korean adults. Methods: This study was conducted using data from the 2008-2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Subjects were 4,451 adults aged 65~98 years. Food security was measured using a self-reported question on food sufficiency of subjects' household. Based on the answers, study subjects were classified into secure, mildly insecure, moderately insecure, and severely insecure groups. Dietary intake was estimated by 24-hour dietary recall. Nutrient intake was assessed by dietary reference intakes (DRI). As for mental health status, the data on mental stress, depression, and suicide ideation were used. Results: Rate of food insecurity in older adults was 14.3%. Old age, being female, low education, low income level, living alone, and discomfort in daily living were more related to food insecurity. Means of nutrient intakes were significantly different according to food security status. Intakes of calcium, potassium, and vitamin $B_2$ were lower than recommended intakes in all groups. Consumption amounts of soy and soybean products, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, vegetable oils, meats, eggs, seafood, and dairy products were lower in food insecure groups. Mental stress, depression, and suicide ideation were higher in food insecure groups independent of the gender and income level. Conclusions: These present findings suggested that food security is related to mental health as well as nutrition status in older Korean adults. A national system that include food and psychosocial support programs for the elderly should be considered in order to improve the overall health of older Korean adults.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.276-282
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• 2004

Marginal Zn deficiency is prevalent through the world and yet human zinc status has not been properly assessed due to the lack of a reliable diagnostic indicator. One potential possibility for zinc status assessment using Zn-binding protein, metallothionein (MT)-mRNA, has been proposed. The purpose of the present study was aimed to show whether measurement of mononuclear cell (MNC) MT mRNA, using a competitive-reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (competitive-RT-PCR) assay, could indicate zinc status in human subjects. In this study, MNC MT-mRNA expression was measured using a competitive-RT-PCR to compare before and after 14 days of zinc supplementation (50 mg Zn/das zinc gluconate). RT-PCR oligonucleotide primers which were designed to amplify both a 278 bp segment of the human MT-2A cDNA and a 198 bp mutant competitor cDNA template from MNCs, were prepared. MT-2A mRNA was normalized by reference to the housekeeping gene, $\beta$-actin, mRNA for which was also measured by competitive-RT-PCR. There was considerable inter-individual variation in MT-mRNA concentration and yet, the mean MT-2A mRNA level increased 4.7-fold after Zn supplementation, as compared to before Zn supplementation. This MT-2A mRNA level was shown as the same pattern and, even more sensitive assay, compared to the conventional plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) Zn assessment in which plasma and RBCs zinc levels increased 2.3- and 1.2-fold, respectively (p<0.05). We suggest that MT competitive-RT-PCR can be a useful assessment tool for evaluating human zinc status.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.357-366
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• 2005

Elder people in Korea was affecting the nutritional status by following factors : low energy intakes, low food diversity, and poor quality of nutrition. Management a nutrition education program was planned to change the elder's nutrition knowledge and improve their nutritional status. There are seven kinds of indicator - knowledge for health questionnaire (before and after education) - we have investigated elderly nutrition education group in Su-Jung ku, Sung-Nam city. The items of surveyed was general characteristics and anthropometric measurement of the elder people, their mini dietary assessment index score, nutritional risk, nutrition knowledge test, and it's valuation comparisons between the before and after every education we did. According to the results of mini dietary assessment index score, the mean was 22.7 at the maximum 30 points and $94.2\%$ of respondents got more than nomal group. The nutritional risk score was the highest in 'high risk' group. Also the results of nutrition knowlede test showed that the mean increase $35.1\%$ of respondents. Therefore, significant improvement results showed by nutrition education programs in elders. These results suggests that the educating nutrition programs fur elder's encouraging eating behavior themselves and changing their knowledge in nutrition.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.199-211
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• 2014

The increasing elderly population has created an urgent need for well-managed convalescent hospitals, which should provide appropriate clinical nutrition services. The new accreditation policy requiring participation of all convalescent hospitals since 2013 may promote improvement of clinical nutrition services. This study examined whether or not the accreditation policy has increased practice level and dietitians' perception of the importance of clinical nutrition management. Of the 177 convalescent hospitals accredited by January 30, 2014, dietitians from 73 hospitals (41.2%) completed the survey questionnaire. The pre-tested questionnaire surveyed general characteristics of the hospital and dietitians, current status of clinical nutrition management, and changes in the perception and practice levels of various aspects of food and clinical nutrition management. In average, dietitians with more than 5 years of work experience (68.1%) provided food and clinical nutrition services (71.2%). After accreditation, dietitians' perception of the importance and practice level of clinical nutrition service increased (P<0.001). Level of perception, however, was significantly (P<0.001) higher than practice level before and after accreditation. During perception and practice level of initial nutrition assessment, a compulsory accreditation item, notably and significantly (P<0.001) improved after accreditation. The significant difference between perception and practice level disappeared after accreditation. In conclusion, the accreditation process had positive effects on clinical nutrition management in terms of dietitians' perception and practice levels. Making more accreditation items compulsory and providing motivation and professional education to dietitians in convalescent hospitals could lead to additional improvements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1-1
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• 2004