• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2002

Purpose: Constipation in childhood is a significant problem, however, understanding of its epidemiology has been limited in Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of constipation in school-aged children, helping to manage and prevent it. Methods: This cross-sectional, descripsive observational prevalence study included children (2grade, 1st and 6th grade) who were attending two elementary schools in Gwangju. The prevalence of constipation, associated symptoms, and risk factors were evaluated by questionnaire. A child was considered to be constipated when he or she defecated two or less times per week. Results: The prevalence of constipation was 15.4%. There is no significant difference between both sexes and grades. Of the causes of constipation, there was statistically significant difference in exercise deficiency, frequent intake of convenience food, long-time watching TV, unbalanced diet and enuresis history between constipation and normal group. Especially, long-time watching TV, exercise deficiency, and enuresis history were risk factors for development of constipation. Only 27.1% of children with constipation were treated by laxative and enema. Conclusion: Even though the prevalence of constipation was high, more than half of them was not treated at all. We should endeavor to educate the children and their parents to prevent constipation by evaluating the feeding and behavioral habit completely, and treating them properly.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.772-783
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• 2015

This study focuses on horticultural activities using colorful food to reduce diets unbalanced in vegetables and to increase emotional intelligence. Horticultural activities using colorful food vegetables were based on 'Health in Daily Life' in the '7th Kindergarten Curriculum'; to improve the dietary habits of the young children, the program was also linked with a parents' education program. The research was conducted with a total of 70 children from classes for four-year-olds in three child-care centers located in Seoul. The horticultural activities based upon nutrition education included activities using colorful food vegetables and nutrition education. For the nutrition education group, only nutrition education was provided, while neither horticultural activities nor nutrition education were provided to the control group. The study was conducted from September to December 2011. A total of twelve sessions were conducted once a week for 60 minutes each. According to the result, after the horticultural activities with colorful food vegetable were conducted, both the nutrition education group and horticultural activity & nutrition education group showed improvements in 'Nutrition Knowledge' compared to the control group. Regarding 'Unbalanced Diet Behaviors', the horticultural activities & nutrition education group showed meaningful decreases compared to the control group. Moreover for preference of fruits and vegetables, the horticultural activities & nutrition education group revealed meaningful improvements. In conclusion, colorful food vegetable horticultural activity could be an effective approach to resolve the imbalance of health caused by unbalanced diets as children who participated in the colorful food vegetable horticultural activities continued to respond spontaneously to the colors of vegetables and fruits and showed joy and kept voluntarily eating them.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.559-568
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of food allergies and allergenic factors in a selected sample of children living in Seoul, Korea, along with their dietary habits, environmental factors, and diseases as risk factors for food allergy. The results of this study will provide basic data for addressing food allergies. Methods: We selected 3,004 pre-school and school-age children, aged 0 ~ 12, in the 25 districts of Seoul as the study sample. Structured self-report questionnaires were administered over a two-month period in July-August 2018, and the children's parents recorded the answers on their children's behalf. The research tools in this study included the Korean version of the questionnaire from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Results: The physician-diagnosed prevalence rate of food allergies was 14.2%, while 20.4% of the children experienced allergic symptoms at least once and 17.4% reported symptoms within the previous 12 months. The children's symptoms included skin problems (88.1%), gastrointestinal issues (19.2%), oral issues (16.7%), respiratory issues (12.7%), and systemic issues (1.3%). The causes of allergies included eggs, peaches, milk, peanuts, and shrimps. The factors influencing the experience of food allergies were the consumption of cereal (aOR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.09 ~ 2.10; p = 0.013), potatoes (aOR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.33 ~ 2.65; p < 0.001), and fast food (aOR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.10 ~ 2.72; p = 0.017). Having food allergy symptoms was associated with a higher risk of experiencing asthma (aOR, 4.22 95% CI, 3.10 ~ 5.76; p < 0.001), allergic rhinitis (aOR, 2.53; 95% CI, 2.03 ~ 3.15; p < 0.001), and atopic dermatitis symptoms (aOR, 3.56; 95% CI, 2.88 ~ 4.40; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Episodes of food allergies warrant examining regular food consumption and placing dietary restrictions through early diagnosis as these episodes may imply the presence of other allergies. Our findings offer basic insights into the patterns, prevalence and symptoms of children's food allergies in Seoul, and our findings will contribute to identifying effective interventions for food allergies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.986-992
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• 2001

To assess the food intake and diet quality of middle school students who live in Kangneung area, a dietary survey using 3-day food record was conducted with 226 subjects. Seventy five percent of total food intake was in the form of plant foods and the rest in the form of animal food. Diet qualify was assessed by food group pattern, dietary diversity score (DDS), and dietary variety score (DVS). When counting the major food groups consumed, 53% of subjects had a DDS of 3 and 35% of subjects had a DDS of 4. When investigating the consumption pattern of the major five food groups, only 10.2% of subjects consumed foods from all five groups. The groups most frequently missed were dairy products (73.0%) and fruits (71.7%). On average, subjects habitually consumed 22.6 different foods daily, with the mean score of diet variety for males (22.1) being significantly lower than for females (22.9). Correlation coefficients between nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and DVS ranged from r=0.40 for vitamin B$_1$to r=0.61 for phosphorus. NAR also improved as the number of foods or food groups consumed increased (p<0.001). Associations between the NAR and high level of DVS was more positive than those between the NAR with DDS. When assessing the dietary quality of subjects using DDS and DVS, many people appeared not to have a desirable food intake. Therefore, to lead them to have nutritionally balanced diet, educating students and their parents on nutrients and suggesting guidelines for a desirable diet is considered to be essential so that they can intake from all of major food groups and have various foods in their diet.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.957-964
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• 2000

To assess trans fatty acids (tFAs) intake of a girls' high school students in Pusan, dietary history and quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) were surveyed and analyzed with a total subjects of 274, 268 in summer and winter respectively. It was shown that 38.0% of subjects which was the highest percentage, had snack twice a day in frequency of snack intake. The most favorite snack of subjects was ice cream (46.4%), the preference for milk and dairy products was considerably high. 43.4% of subjects responded to once a month in frequency of dining out. They preferred grilled pork (39.1%), hamburger (36.9%), grilled beef (26.6%) in order. It was also appeared that they preferred fast food. In the case of eating bread, 8.0% of subjects ate bread and margarine, 7.1% butter. Generally, the subjects preferred margarine to butter. tFAs intake for each person per day was $4.24{\pm}0.18\;g$. There was significant difference in tFAs intake according to parents income (p<0.05), frequency of snack intake (p<0.001) and that of dining out (p<0.05). tFAs intake produced naturally (N-tFAs) was $0.86{\pm}0.00\;g$ which corresponded to 20.3% of total tFAs intake per day. tFAs intake produced artificially (H-tFAs) in the process of hardening oil was $3.38{\pm}0.14\;g$, equaled to 79.7% of total tFAs intake per day. There was significant difference between H-tFAs intake for each person per day (p=0.000)

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.101-112
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• 2019

Over the last few years, air pollution ($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$) in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) has emerged as one of the most concerned and threatening environmental issues among the residents. It brings about various harmful effects on human health, as well as ecosystem and industrial activities. Governments and individuals pay various costs to mitigate the level of air pollutants. This study aims to empirically find the willingness to pays (WTP) among the parents from different socio-cultural groups - international and domestic groups to mitigate air pollution ($PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$) in their residential area. Contingent Valuation Methods (CVM) is used with employing single-bounded dichotomous choice technique to elicit the respondent's WTP. Using tobit (censored regression) and probit models, the monthly mean WTP of the pooled sample for green electricity which contributes to improve air quality in the region was estimated as 3,993 KRW (3.58 USD). However, the mean WTP between the international group and domestic group through a sub-sample analysis shows broad distinction as 3,325KRW (2.98 USD) and 4,449 KRW (3.98 USD) respectively. This is because that socio-cultural characteristics of each group such as socio-economic status, personal experience, trust in institutions and worldview are differently associated with the WTP. Based on the results, the society needs to raise awareness of lay people to find a strong linkage between the current PM issue and green electricity. Also, it needs to improve trust in the government's pollution abatement policy to mobilize more assertive participation of the people from different socio-cultural background.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.46-69
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• 2013

The results of study on the meaning landscape and environmental design techniques of the Byulup, Yoohoedang garden(Hageowon) based on the story in the collection of Kwon Yi-jin (Yoohoedangjip, 有懷堂集), are as below. First, Yoohoedang Kwon Yi-jin (有懷堂 權以鎭 : 1668~1734) constructed a Byulup garden consisting of ancestor grave, Byulup, garden, and a school, through 3 steps for 20 years in the back hill area of Moosoo-dong village, south of Mountain Bomun in Daejeon. In other words, he built the Byulup(別業, Yoohoedang) by placing his father's grave in the back hill of the village, and then constructed Yoegeongam(餘慶菴) and Geoupjae(居業齋) for protection of the pond(Napoji, 納汚池), garden(Banhwanwon, 盤桓園), and ancestor graves, and descendants' studying in the middle stage. He built an extension in Yoohoedang and finally completed the large-size garden (Hageowon) by extending the east area. Second, in terms of geomancy sense, Yoohoedang Byulup located in Moosoo-dong village area is the representative example including all space elements such as main living house (the head family house of Andong Kwon family), Byulup (Yoohoedang), ancestor graves, Hagoewon (garden) and Yoegeongam (cemetery management and school) which byulup type Byulseo should be equipped with. Thirdly, there are various meaning landscape elements combining the value system of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism value, including; (1) remembering parents, (2) harmonious family, (3) integrity, (4) virtue, (5) noble personality, (6) good luck, (7) hermit life, (8) family prosperity and learning development, (9) grace from ancestors, (10) fairyland, (11) guarding ancestor graves, and (12) living ever-young. Fourth, after he arranged ancestor graveyard in the back of the village, he used surrounding natural landscapes to construct Hagoewon garden with water garden consisting of 4 mountain streams and 3 ponds for 13 years, and finally completed a beautiful fairyland with 5 platforms, 3 bamboo forests, as well as the Seokgasan(石假山, artificial hill). Fifth, he adopted landscape plantation (28 kinds; pine, maple, royal azalea, azalea, persimmon tree, bamboo, willow, pomegranate tree, rose, chinensis, chaenomeles speciosa, Japanese azalea, peach tree, lotus, chrysanthemum, peony, and Paeonia suffruticosa, etc.) to apply romance from poetic affection, symbol and ideal from personification, as well as plantation plan considering seasonal landscapes. Landscape rocks were used by intact use of natural rocks, connecting with water elements, garden ornament method using Seokyeonji and flower steps, and mountain Seokga method showing the essence of landscape meanings. In addition, waterscape are characterized by active use of water considering natural streams and physio-graphic condition (eastern valley), ecological corridor role that rhythmically connects each space of the garden and waterways following routes, landscape meaning introduction connecting 'gaining knowledge by the study of things' values including Hwalsoodam(活水潭, pond), Mongjeong(蒙井, spring), Hosoo(濠水, stream), and Boksoo(?水, stream), and sensuous experience space construction with auditory and visualization using properties of landscape matters.

• Journal of forensic and investigative science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.21-29
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• 2007

News from the media on sexual assaults to children committed by natural fathers doesn't attract social attention any more. The number of crimes related to Child Sexual Assault(CSA) is increasing every year in spite of the "Special Act on Prevention of Sexual Assault in Korea". The YoungNam District Sunflower Center for prevention of Child Sexual Assaults(SC-CSA) was established in Daegu, June 2005. The YoungNam District SC-CSA provides forensic evaluation of physical evidence, medical and psychological treatment for the victims less than 13 years of sexual assaults simultaneously. This study carried out 36 cases of CSA by kin reported to YoungNam District SC-CSA, among 180 cases in total until December 2006 since its opening. Most of the victims were girls (32 cases). 28 cases (78%) were indecent assaults (78%) and 8 cases (22%) were rapes. The assailants were overwhelmingly males (35 cases). The assailants of 21 cases (58.3%) were identified as the victims' natural fathers. The incident locations were victim's residence (31 cases, 86.1%) and the victims had been sexually assaulted regularly for many years (25 cases, 69.4%). Considering the above research, we can conclude that CSA committed by kin has specific characteristics. CSA is not a one-time incident, but consistently occurring crime. However, in 22 cases (61.1%), the victim's guardian didn't want to report about it or punish the assailants. As the assailants were natural fathers or relatives of the victims, the other family members probably thought it might be shameful to reveal their wrong doings and would lead to defamation of their family's reputation. The SC-CSA provides the counseling and medical treatment to the victims with the consent of the parents. Due to the guardians' misjudgment, the incident is sometimes not reported to the police. By not reporting the incident to the police, the assailant freely commits other crimes, which multiplies victims. The legal Act of supporting the management of the SC-CSA is still not regulated, so the stability of the SC-CSA is not guaranteed, yet. Even though it is obligatory to report incidents to the police, some cases are still not reported. Currently, there are three SC-CSA centers : in Seoul, in Daegu, and in Gwangju. More centers need to be established to diminish CSA cases in Korea.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.404-412
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• 2012

The main object of this study is to render a better dental education to mental disabilities, teachers, and their parents. By providing a better dental education to them, mental disabilities would understand the importance of their oral hygiene. The study was held in Seoul at two different locations, named H and E mental welfare facilities. Ninety Three mental disabilities were studied by observing their oral behavior, simple oral hygiene index and plaque index prior and post to dental education. At the end of education, following result were gathered from two mental facilities. First, the level of oral behavior in Class 1,2, and 3 mental disabilities were observed prior and post to the dental education. Overall, there was no significant difference among Class 1 mental disabilities with the dental education. Second, in simple oral hygiene index, the severity of mental illness has affected on their oral behavior (F=6.322, p<.001). Third, in simple oral hygiene index, the frequency of dental education, regardless of severity of mental illness has affected on their oral hygiene (F=5.961, p<.01). Fourth, the plaque index also illustrated that the frequency of dental education, regardless of severity of dental illness has affected on their oral hygiene (F=5.126, p<.05). Finally, the general characteristics of mental disabilities according to changes in oral health awareness to gender, age, disability type, educational level do not statistically significant in all variables. Their simple oral hygiene index and plaque index advanced, although after a while they started to lose focus, which brought back their old habits. Nevertheless, in conclusion I believe that helping mental disabilities more frequently to constant reminder, will not only keep them entertained, but help them realize how important oral hygiene practice is, hopefully increasing and benefiting those with mental disabilities for future reference.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.76-84
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• 2002

Objectives：This study was conducted to investigate the effect of oxygen on attention and memory functions in healthy adolescents. Methods：The participant subjects were recruited from local advertisement. All subjects are students attending ordinary middle and high school. Their degree of achievement was average or below average. Before the study, its nature and purpose were fully explained to the patients and their parents, and a written informed consent was obtained from each child's parent and a written assent from each child for entire the procedure. The Ethics Committee and Clinical Research Committee of Gyeongsang National University Hospital approved the protocol. For baseline assessment, all subjects received tests for attention and memory. All tests were conducted by a certified psychologist. Stroop test, continuous performance test and trail making test A and B were used for evaluation of attention. As memory tests, we used memory assessment scale(MAS), standardized memory assessment tools. Ten to fourteen days after initial assessments, same tests was applied to the same subjects after prior 5 minute oxygen inhalation. Results：1) Attention test：Improved performances in trail making part B, and stroop test were found in normobaric oxygen inhalation group compared to air inhalation group. Improved reaction time in those tests seemed to reflect the enhanced executive prefrontal activity. 2) Memory test：More words and digits memorization were found in short-term memory subscale score in MAS in oxygen inhalation group compared to air inhalation group. This finding suggested the improved working memory function after oxygen inhalation. Conclusion：Though interpreted cautiously, these results suggested that normobaric oxygen inhalation could enhance executive function and working memory of prefrontal lobe. Further study, however, should be performed to investigate the mechanism of effects of oxygen on cognitive enhancement.