• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.664-670
• /
• 2001

This study was carried out to investigate the obesity prevalence and relationship between the degree of obesity and risk for coronary heart disease in elementary school children in Kyungbuk area from 1996 to 1998. One hundred eighty obese children aged 8 yrs through 11 yrs(112 boys : 68 girls) were chosen depending on the criteria of obesity degree, and then the subjects were classified into one of three groups according to the degree of obesity; mild(20-29%), moderate(30-49%), and severe( $\geq$ 50%) obesity, fasting blood was collected in the morning, and body fat, plasma total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride were measured. LDL-cholesterol and atherogenic index were also calculated. The obesity prevalence increased from 7.1% in 1996 to 9.5% in 1998. As body fat level increased, blood triglyceride level increased(p < 0.001). As the degree of obesity increased, the level of blood triglyceride(p < 0.001) and systolic blood pressure(p < 0.05) also increased. The risk fur coronary heart disease based on criteria of the level of total-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and atherogenic index increased from 6.9%,1.4% and 13.9% in 1996 to 28.3%, 18.7% and 17.0% in 1998, respectively. The number of risk factors relating to coronary hero disease increased, as the degree of obesity increased, especially in girls. The results suggest that there is some potential relationship between children obesity and the incidence of coronary hero disease. Thus, this study implicates that desirable nutrition education may be needed for obese children.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.180-192
• /
• 2010

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of the waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHTR) in screening for obesity in Korean children and adolescents. Methods: Data, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and height, were obtained from the national growth surveys for children and adolescents in 2005. The WHTR was calculated dividing WC by height in subjects 2~18 years of age. Overweight and obese were defined by BMI percentiles for age and gender. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to find out the optimal cutoff values of WHTR that matched BMI-determined overweight and obesity using the STATA program. The area under the curve (AUC), a measure of diagnostic power, of WHTR was compared to WC. The influence of age on WHTR was analyzed by the SAS program. Results: The WHTR significantly decreased with age, and had less correlation with age in the 6~18-year-old age group than the 2~5-year-old age group. Furthermore, the WHTR also had less correlation with age than WC in the 6~18-year-old age group. The AUC of WHTR in identifying overweight and obesity was significantly higher than the AUC of WC in the 6~18-year-old age group. The optimal cutoff values were 0.51 in boys and 0.49 in girls for obesity, and 0.48 in boys and 0.47 in girls for overweight, with all having the AUC>0.9. The optimal cutoff values of WHTR had a higher sensitivity for diagnosing obesity than WC${\geq}$90th percentiles. Conclusion: The WHTR is an easy, accurate, and less age-dependent index with high applicability in screening for obesity in children and adolescents.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.42 no.10
• /
• pp.1592-1599
• /
• 2013

Despite numerous studies regarding overweight or obese children, only a limited number of studies have investigated the effect of underweight. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of underweight among school-aged children. A total of 493 students (86 underweight and 407 normal weight students) aged 11 to 13 years were included in our study. Socio-demographic characteristics, eating habits, health information, self-perception of weight, weight-control efforts and birth-related information were collected by using survey questionnaires for children and parents. Dietary information was obtained by two 24-hour food records, which were completed by both children and their parents. The prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in girls than boys, and the frequency of medical treatment and flu symptoms were higher in underweight children than normal ones. Overall, girls tended to overestimate their own weight; this misclassification was greater among underweight girls. Birthweight was positively correlated with current weight (P<0.05) and height (P<0.01) in girls, but these correlations were not seen in boys. In conclusion, underweight girls had inappropriate self-perception of weight, and underweight in girls may be related with birthweight and inadequate dietary intakes. Therefore, it is important to build a well-designed framework that integrates efforts of home, school, and community to maintain a healthy weight with balanced diet and exercise throughout the lifetime.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.764-772
• /
• 2002

Purpose : Obesity is closely related to insulin resistance, compensatory hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia in adults. We identified the effect of obesity measured by BMI and insulin resistance on dyslipidemia in children and adolescents. Methods : The fasting serum insulin, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol were measured and insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) was calculated in 35 children with simple obesity(age :$10.6{\pm}2.8$ years; male 20, female 15; BMI : $27.1{\pm}5.4kg/m^2$). Results : The hypertriglyceridemia(37%), hyperinsulinemia(54%) and HDL-hypocholesterolemia(5.7%) were observed. HOMA-IR was well expressed by fasting insulin. As BMI increased, there was a statistically significant increase in insulin resistance and insulin level in both sexes. BMI was not related with lipid profile in both sexes. Triglyceride was correlated with only insulin level and insulin resistance index in boys. In girls, there was no correlation between triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and insulin(insulin resistance). Conclusion : These results suggest that hypertriglyceridemia was dependent on insulin resistance in pre-adult males. Monitoring of insulin resistance and those risk factors known to become a part of insulin resistance syndrome should become part of routine medical care for obese children.