• Archives of Obesity and Metabolism
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.37-44
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• 2023

Weight gain is defined as the increase in body weight, increasing the prevalence of obesity, and results in metabolic diseases. Weight gain was reportedly caused by the interaction between the obesogenic environmental factors and individual metabolic factors. Sociodemographic and environmental factors (demographic factors, lifestyle/behavioral factors, food/nutritional factors, socioeconomic factors), drug-related secondary causes (some of the corticosteroids, antihyperglycemics, antihypertensives, antidepressants, etc.), and metabolic factors (aging and hormonal changes, menopause and decreased sex hormones, decreased adipocyte degradation, decreased fibroblast growth factor 21, central sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity, decreased sympathetic-adrenomedullary system activity) are significant factors related to weight gain. It is crucial to prevent weight gain and maintain an ideal weight, but studies on the risk factors of weight gain are insufficient. Therefore, this study evaluated the factors associated with weight gain to find strategies for preventing unnecessary weight gain.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.125-143
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• 2005

The purposes of this study were to investigate the characteristics of lifestyle and dietary habits of the colorectal cancer patients in Daegu and Kyungpook areas and to collect the data useful for nutrition education for the prevention of colorectal cancer in this community. The case subjects of the study were 123 patients diagnosed recently as colorectal cancer at Kyungpook National University Hospital. The control subjects were 182 persons who did not have any gastrointestinal diseases, including the patients from the department of orthopedic surgery and healthy volunteers. The survey covering general characteristics, life style, dietary habits, eating behaviors, and food intake frequency was administered by individual interviews using questionnaires. The results of the study suggest that high BMI, daily life stress, pessimistic personality, lack of physical activities, and familial cancer history might be the possible risk factors for the incidence of colorectal cancer. Dietary factors suspected as risk factors for colorectal cancer in the present study included strong preferences to meats, salty and fatty taste foods, low intake of water, alcohol drinking, smoking, coffee intake and irregular eating habits. A high consumption of seaweeds, green-yellow vegetables, light-colored vegetables, and green tea was suggested as a preventive factor for colorectal cancer. It is recommended to conduct more extensive and systematic surveys in the near future to reconfirm the risk factors of colorectal cancer in consideration of the characteristic food culture in this community. The results of the present study may be applied to nutritional education for the prevention of colorectal cancer for the local residents. (Korean J Nutrition 38(2): 125～143, 2005)

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2010

Resistance training (RT) is associated with reduced risk of low grade inflammation related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The majority of the data studying cytokines and exercise comes from endurance exercise. In contrast, evidence establishing a relationship between RT and inflammation is more limited. This review focuses on the cytokine responses both following an acute bout, and after chronic RT. In addition, the effect of RT on low grade systemic inflammation such as individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes is reviewed. Cytokines are secreted proteins that influence the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of immune cells and other organ systems. Cytokines function as intracellular signals and almost all cells in the body either secrete them or have cytokine receptors. Thus, understanding cytokine role in a specific physiological situation such as a bout of RT can be exceedingly complex. The overall effect of long term RT appears to ameliorate inflammation, but the specific effects on the inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha are not clear, requiring further research. Furthermore, it is critical to differentiate between chronically and acute Interleukin-6 levels and its sources. The intensity of the RT and the characteristics of the training protocol may exert singular cytokine responses and as a result different adaptations to exercise. More research is needed in the area of RT in healthy populations, specifically sorting out gender and age RT acute responses. More importantly, studies are needed in obese individuals who are at high risk of developing low grade systemic inflammatory related diseases. Assuring adherence to the RT program is essential to get the benefits after overcoming the first acute RT responses. Hence RT could be an effective way to prevent, and delay low grade systemic inflammatory related diseases.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.288-297
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• 2008

It has been reported frequently that clinical features of gallstone disease in Korean were similarly changing to those of Occidentals. This changing was thought to be due to Westernized lifestyle and dietary patterns in Korean. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nutritional risk factor among patients with gallstone. The subjects of this study were 90 gallstone group with biliary stone as confirmed by cholecystectomy and 111 control group with no biliary stone as confirmed by ultrasonography adjusted according to age and gender. Anthropometric indices and biomarkers were measured and dietary habit as well as nutrient consumption pattern were investigated using a structured checklist of health-related eating behavior and a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The mean age was higher in GG (gallbladder stone patient group) than CG (control group). The average BMI and WHR (waisthip ratio) tended to be higher than those in CG. WC (waist circumference) and WHR of women in GG were significantly higher than in CG. GG had lower levels in TC (p < 0.01), LDL-C (p < 0.05), and HDL-C (p < 0.05), but higher FBG levels (p < 0.001). GG tended to be associated with lower physical activity and more frequent consumption of meat, meats with high fat and high sugar content food. The consumption levels of fiber (p < 0.05), vitamin C (p < 0.05), calcium (p < 0.01) in GG were significantly lower than in CG. These findings showed that the association with incidence of gallbladder stone and anthrophometric indices and dietary consumption patterns. Further study may be necessary to elucidate the dietary risk factors in the changing patterns of gallstone disease.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1058-1069
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• 1994

This study was performed to study the effects of dietary factors on breast and cervical cancer incidence in female Koreans. The subjects were 60 breast and 109 cervical cancer patients recruited from five general hospitals in Seoul. Food intake, anthropometric measurement, and blood compositions were studied through personal interview and using medical records, from August 1991 to September 1992. Body weight, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness and body muscle mass were at upper limit of normal value, which suggest that these patients had a tendency of overweight. The levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit of the patients were below the normal values. The values of serum protein, albumin, and calcium were in the normal range but close to the lower bound. Therefore the nutritional status assessed by blood composition seems to be marginal. The results of diet history showed that most of the nutrient intake of the subjects met with RDA. The fat intake were 22.9-36.9g/day which supplies about 15-16% of total calories. The results of this study do not agree with those reports of western societies which showed the positive correlation between calorie and fat intake and the incidence of breast and cervical cancer. Even through the calories and fat intake of the subjects were not high, it was higher than national average, especially in breast cancer patients. From this study, dietary factors does not seem to be a major risk factor in cancer incidence in Korea. However, the tendency of the increasing consumption of fat could be a contributing risk factor together with overweight.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to develop a pregnancy nutrition knowledge scale and to examine the relationships between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits in pregnant women. Methods: With convenient sampling, 189 pregnant women who used community health centers for their ante-natal care were recruited. Data were collected using a self administered questionnaire including items on pregnancy nutrition knowledge (18 items) developed by researcher and items on eating habits (14 items). Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis were examined to test reliability and construct validity of the scale. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to identify the relationship between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits. Results: Cronbach's alpha of 18 items was .80. In factor analysis using principal components, 6 factors explained 65% of the total variance. The level of pregnancy nutrition knowledge was not sufficient but correlations between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and some of eating habits were significant. Specifically, pregnancy nutrition knowledge was positively correlated with good eating habits and negatively with bad eating habits. Conclusion: The pregnancy nutrition knowledge scale developed in this study is acceptable for nutrition education led by nurses. Pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits are considered as major variables for ante-natal nutrition education. In future studies, explorations are needed on dietary intake and physiological indices in pregnant women, comparison of women at risk with those not at risk, and development of nutritional education programs for pregnant women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9543-9547
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• 2014

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate demographic features, dietary habits, and some possible risk factors for being susceptible to breast cancer in Iranian women. Materials and Methods: A study of dietary habits and breast cancer was conducted among 53 Iranian women with histological confirmed disease and 40 matched controls. A dietary habits questionnaire was used to evaluate the pattern of selected food intakes. The risk of cancer was analyzed after adjustment for confounding factors. Age, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, educational status, parity, lactation, marital status, menopause, history of estrogen therapy, and family history of breast disease or cancer were assessed among participants. Special attention was given to the relationship between consumption of high fat meat, milk, yogurt and cheese as well use of frying oils for frying foods, use of olive/liquid oils for cooking, removing fat from meat and poultry, removing chicken skin and not use of mayonnaise as salad dressing and the risk of breast cancer. Moreover, salad, vegetable and fruit consumption, and eating outdoors owere investigated. Results: Our results revealed significant lower education and higher BMI and waist circumference levels in patients with breast cancer. There was significantly increased breast cancer risk in overweight women in comparison with normal weight (OR=2.91, 95%CI 1.24 to 6.82). High intake of fat dairy products including milk and cheese was found to be a statistically significant factor for increasing breast cancer risk in models adjusting for age, BMI and education. Use of olive/liquid oils for cooking and avoidance of mayonnaise as salad dressing are related to lower risk of breast cancer. The frequency of vegetable and fruit consumption was significantly lower in patients with breast cancer compared to healthy women. Conclusions: Dietary habits might be risk factors for breast cancer among Iranian women. Adoption of a prudent diet could be an appropriate strategy for preventing breast cancer.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.246-253
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• 2012

The Framingham risk score (FRS) has been used to assess the risk of a cardiovascular event and to identify patients for risk factor modifications. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of the FRS with dietary intake and inflammatory biomarkers. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 180 men ($49.2{\pm}10.2$ years) with MS. Serum levels of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and adiponectin were examined. Participants were asked to complete the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) using the previous 1 year as a reference point. The absolute cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk percentage over 10 years was calculated to estimate the FRS, which was classified as low risk (< 10%), intermediate risk (10-20%), and high risk (> 20%). Mean intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids was lower in subjects who had > 20% FRS than in subjects who had < 10% FRS ($3.7{\pm}1.9$ g/day vs. $4.7{\pm}1.9$ g/day; P < 0.05). Significant differences in the Index of Nutritional Quality of protein, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, vitamin $B_1$, niacin, vitamin $B_6$, and vitamin C were observed between the > 20% FRS group and the < 10% FRS group (P < 0.05). IL-6 concentrations were significantly lower in subjects with a < 10% FRS than in subjects who were 10-20% FRS or > 20% FRS ($0.91{\pm}0.26$ vs. $1.48{\pm}033$ vs. $2.72{\pm}0.57$ pg/mL, respectively; P < 0.05). IL-6 and dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids together explained 6.6% of the variation in FRS levels in a stepwise multiple regression model. Our results provide some evidence that dietary intake in the higher CVD risk group was inferior to that in the lower risk group and that dietary fat intake and IL-6 were associated with FRS and MS in Korean men.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.224-232
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to identify the dietary patterns associated with the risk of hypertensions among Korean adults using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2008-2010). This study analyzes data from 11,883 subjects who participated in the health and nutrition survey, aging from 20 to 64 years. We performed factor analysis based on the weekly mean intake frequencies of 36 food groups to identify major dietary patterns. We identified three major dietary patterns in both sexes, namely "traditional", "western" and "dairy and carbohydrate" patterns. Participants in the highest quartile of western pattern scores had significantly higher blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels than those in the lowest quartile. Although not statistically significant, a trend (P for trend = 0.0732) toward a positive association between the western dietary pattern and hypertension risk was observed after adjustments for age, sex, education, income, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, and energy intake. The dairy and carbohydrate pattern was inversely related with BMI and blood pressures and positively associated with serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. After adjusting the age, sex, education, income, BMI, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern showed inverse associations with hypertension prevalence (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.55-0.75; P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber, sodium, and antioxidant vitamins were significantly higher in the top quartile for the traditional pattern than in the lowest quartile for the traditional pattern (P for trend < 0.0001). Intakes of fiber (P for trend < 0.0001), calcium (P for trend < 0.0001), retinol (P for trend = 0.0164), vitamin $B_1$ (P for trend = 0.001), vitamin $B_2$ (P for trend < 0.0001), niacin (P for trend = 0.0025), and vitamin C (P for trend < 0.0001) were significantly increased across quartiles for the dairy and carbohydrate pattern whereas sodium (P for trend < 0.0001) intake was decreased for this pattern. In conclusion, the dairy and carbohydrate pattern may be associated with a reduced risk of hypertension whereas the western pattern may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension among Korean adults.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.272-283
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• 2007

This study was performed to delineate the relationship between lifestyle and nutritional risk factors associated with hypertension in representative middle-aged Korean population. Hypertension in this study is defined as hypertensive ($SBP{\geq}140mmHg\;or\;DBP{\geq}90mmHg$) adults without recognition of a disease state before a health exam. With data from the 1998 and 2001 National Health and Nutritional Survey, nutrient intakes of 6,112 adults, 40-64 years of age were calculated using food composition database and matched with health examination records by individual ID. After excluding those with extreme intake values, the number of final subjects included in the analysis was 5,200 (male 2,458, female 2,742). Using logistic regression method, socio-demographic data, lifestyle factors, and nutrient intakes were analyzed. Risky factors for hypertension revealed in this study were age, sex, BMI over 23, waist circumference, alcohol intake of more than 16g (male) or 8g (female). Regarding nutrient intakes, the intakes of highest quartile for energy (${\geq}2363.0kcal$) and protein (${\geq}90.2g$) were significantly associated with higher risk of hypertension after adjusting for age, sex, and other socio-demographic factors (OR=1.312(1.046-1.711), OR=1.488(1.194-1.854), respectively)). Although high intakes of sodium (${\geq}6604.0mg$) and phosphorus seemed to be risk factors of hypertension also before energy adjustment (OR=1.278(1.034-1.581), OR=1.280(1.024-1.600), respectively), only high intakes of energy and protein remained significant after adjustment. This study revealed that modifying risky lifestyles and dietary patterns, especially high energy intake, high protein intake, and high alcohol drinking, in middle-aged Korean adults could result in a prevalence decrease and/or prevention of hypertension.