• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.162-167
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• 2009

Adipocytes undergo adipocyte stress in the excessive presence of lipid. Adipocyte stress accompanies the typical signs of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress: unfolded protein response and overexpression of molecular chaperones. Apoptotic induction in adipocytes is known as a good strategy for treating obesity. The drug "tunicamycin" was tested for its therapeutic potential in inducing apoptosis on differentiating adipocytes of 3T3-L1. When the 3T3-L1 cells, stimulated for adipogenesis, were treated with tunicamycin, they showed typical ER stress symptoms. Despite progression in ER stress, however, the differentiated 3T3-L1 hardly proceeded to apoptosis based on the CHOP protein expression and FACS analysis. This is very different from C2C12, the myogenic counterpart of 3T3-L1, which showed significant apoptosis along with ER stress. This study also characterizes a potential mechanism whereby adipocyte may avoid apoptosis to sustain the pathological state of obesity. The level of GRP94 expression significantly upholds in 3T3-L1 under tunicamycin treatment compared to preadipocytes and C2C-12. When GRP94 expression was inhibited by siRNA, 3T3-L1 showed a higher level of CHOP expression compared to C2C12 cells. In conclusion, adipocytes exert an anti-apoptotic mechanism under ER stress caused by tunicamycin; thus, apoptotic induction in adipocyte is not a viable anti-obesity option. The unusual level of GRP94 may serve as a key role whereby adipocytes reach to the obesity level circumventing the apoptosis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.395-404
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to prevent obesity in the elderly and to seek differentiated intervention measures according to education level by comparing and analyzing the factors influencing obesity in single-person households according to education level. Using the data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey in 2020, cross-analysis and logistic regression analysis were conducted through data of a total of 400 respondents, and the analysis showed vulnerability in physical activities that could affect obesity if the education level was low, and risk factors such as eating out and sodium intake were high. As a result of comparative analysis of influencing factors through the classification of education levels, sedentary time was a risk factor in the low-education group, and sodium intake was a risk factor for obesity in the high-education group. Through this, it was discussed the need for healthy nutrition and physical activity education for middle-aged and elderly single-person households, and differentiated intervention according to the level of education.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2022

Background: The growing prevalence of overweight and/or obese children is an important public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Although the association of obesity between parents and their children is well known, its underlying mechanisms are not well established. Purpose: This meta-analysis examined parent-child (PC) relationships in obesity and identified factors such as world region and country income level that may influence this relationship. Methods: We identified all related studies published between January 1, 2015 and May 31, 2020 by conducting a literature search using the MeSH terms "obesity," "overweight," "body mass index," "parent," "child," "associate," and "relate" in the PubMed database in English. Results: The meta-analysis of 23 studies that reported an odds ratio (OR) for parent and child obesity associations found a significant association between parents and children who were overweight or obese (pooled OR, 1.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.85-2.10). A meta-regression analysis was used to examine the sources of interstudy heterogeneity. The association between parent and child obesity was higher in Asia than in Europe and the Middle East and higher in high-income countries than in middle-or low-income countries. In addition, a higher association between parent and child obesity was found when both parents were obese than when only the father or mother was obese. This study from multiple countries indicates a significant PC relationship in weight status that varies according to PC pair type, parent and child weight statuses, world region, and country income level. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the risk of childhood obesity is greatly influenced by parental weight status and indicate that parents could play an important role in preventing child obesity.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.830-840
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• 2017

Excessive body weight gain during the growth period of early life may predispose individuals towards obesity and metabolic disorder in later life. We investigated the possibility of using the food efficiency ratio as an early indicator for predicting susceptibility to diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance. Four-week-old, prepubertal, male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into obesity-prone and obesity-resistant groups based on food efficiency ratio values after five days on a high-fat diet. Metabolic parameters measured after 2, 6, and 10 weeks, and specific phenotypes were compared with each group. Obesity-prone rats had higher increases in body weight and fat mass compared to obesity-resistant rats over the study period. Obesity-prone rats became glucose intolerant early in this study and remained so throughout the experimental period, with increases in fat weight and leptin levels occurring first, followed by increases in insulin level. Gluconeogenesis and insulin resistance significantly increased in obesity-prone groups in which activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase were increased and glucokinase activity decreased. Higher food efficiency ratio at an early age was closely correlated with body fat accumulation, hyperleptinemia, and hyperinsulinemia of middle and elderly age. We suggest a high food efficiency ratio in prepubertal subjects may be a useful predictor of future obesity and insulin resistance.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the state and factors associated with level of physical activity and exercise in adolescents. Method: The subjects in this study included 528 adolescents registered at two junior high schools and two senior high schools in J City. The data were collected between October 20 and 30, 2006. Result: The study results showed that 23.8% of the adolescents engaged in vigorous activities for at least 20 minutes, three times a week, while 3.8% of the adolescents participated in moderate activities for at least 30 minutes, five times a week. The subjective level of health was determined to be $3.51\pm.91$ points on a 5-point scale. The level of stress was $2.58\pm.83$ points on a 4-point scale. The obesity index was $4.26\pm20.84$ points. Significant correlations were found between the subjective level of health and level of stress (r=-.201, p=.000), the subjective level of health and the obesity index (r=-.135, p=.004), and between the level of stress and the obesity index (r=.107, p=.024). Conclusion: These results showed that developing a health promotion program that includes an exercise program specific to gender and level of education, individualized strategies of stress control and optimal weight control is required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.396-405
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of obesity and depression level of obese children on body weight control program. The body weight control program included nutrition education, psychotherapy and exercise for weekly session during 9 months. The results from this study were as follows. A total of 27 obese children participated in this study. The average age of children was 11.7 years, 70% of children had regular exercise. Average exercise time was 1.2 hours and watching television time was 1.8 hours. Children's serum composition were within normal ranges. Rohrer index(RI) was significantly decreased to 163 from 167(p<0.001) and BMI was significantly decreased to 23.9 from 24.5(p<0.01) after body weight control program. There was not significant difference in depression score after body weight control program and there was not significant correlation between obesity and depression level. The response tendency of depression items indicated obese children had negative depression feelings and couldn't have hopeful mind to the future. But there were significant increase(p<0.05) in depression and hopeful mind in factor analysis. The suggestion and limitations of this study were discussed. These results suggest that body weight control program including nutrition education, exercise and psychotherapy may be effective for helping obese children.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among plasma leptin, lipid profiles, insulin levels, and percentage of body fat of 72 schoolchildren from Obese Clinic Center in Seoul. The subjects divided into two groups: 39 obesity children [obesity index greater than $20\%$] who did not have a discernable medical cause of their obesity and 33 children with a obesity index less than $20\%$. The mean age, height, and obesity index of the subjects were 10.4 years, 144.0 cm, and $21.3\%$, respectively. The mean glucose and insulin levels of the obese children were 80.5 mg/dl and $13.3\;{\mu}IU/mL$ and those of the non obese children were 82.0 mg/dl and $4.2\;{\mu}IU/mL$, respectively. Obese children had significantly (p<0.05) higher level of total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and insulin concentration than non-obese children. However obese children had a lower level of HDL-cholesterol than non-obese children. Plasma leptin level were also positively correlated with BMI (p<0.000l), body fat (p<0.0001), tricep skinfold thickness (p<0.0001), mid arm circumference (p<0.0001), and waist hip ratio (p<0.0001). Plasma leptin showed a significantly positive correlation with insulin (p<0.0001), total cholesterol (p<0.0001), LDL-cholesterol (p<0.0001), and triglyceride (p<0.0001) levels, however, it was negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol (p<0.0001) levels. In conclusion, the concentration of leptin in the blood is significantly correlated with the amount of body fat, BMI, plasma insulin, and plasma lipid profiles.

• Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.191-196
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• 2018

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cancer are serious health problems worldwide, and their prevalences have been on the rise in recent years. It has been reported that adropin plays an important role in the development of T2DM, oxidative stress, inflammation, and obesity. However, there is limited information available on T2DM from human studies, especially for the Korean population. In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between adropin levels and obesity of Korean T2DM patients. Methods: Thirty-six T2DM patients were recruited for this study. The participants were further classified into female (n = 12) and male (n = 24). Their body composition, metabolic parameters, inflammatory factors, and oxidative stress were measured. Results: The severity of obesity is more manifested in male than in female. Plasma triglyceride (TG) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels of male were significantly higher than female. The plasma adropin and adiponectin level of female was significantly higher than male. The body weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat mass were negatively correlated with the plasma adropin level in female, whereas adropin has positive correlation with adiponectin in female. The hs-CRP was negatively correlated with the plasma adropin level in female and male. malondialdehyde, reactive oxidative species, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ was not significantly correlated with adropin in patients with T2DM. Conclusions: These findings suggest that adropin may be more used as a biomarker for predicting the risk of obesity and inflammation in Korean patients with T2DM, especially women.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.263-267
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• 2019

BACKGROUD/OBJECTIVES: Obesity is globally a major public health issue. Evidence suggests that elevated ferritin levels are associated with obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between the serum ferritin level and depression in Korean male adults with respect to classification of the prevailing obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This was a case-control study; subjects were classified into obese group (${\geq}25.0kg/m^2$, 28 subjects) and normal group ($18.5-22.9kg/m^2$, 27 subjects). A survey was conducted to assess the depression levels as per the guidelines suggested by the Center program for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D). Blood was collected from each group for assessing biomarkers, and isolated plasma was evaluated for fasting glucose, insulin, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index, and ferritin levels. Data were analyzed, and groups were compared with respect to Body Mass Index (BMI), depression scale and biomarkers. RESULTS: The average depression score of the obesity group was 16.86, which was higher than the normal group (12.56). Subjects scoring more than 16 points comprised 53.6% of the population in the obese group, which was more than double that in the normal group, as assessed by the CES-D program. Furthermore, the serum ferritin level of the obesity group was 207.12 ng/mL, which was higher than that of the normal group (132.66 ng/mL). Lastly, the BMI appeared to be significantly correlated with both depression (r = 0.320, P = 0.017) and elevated ferritin levels (r = 0.352, P = 0.008). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of existing correlation between ferritin and depression with obesity.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1084-1087
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• 1997

A sample of 450 women who attended a physical fitness program in the Ulsan area was selected to study some environmental factors associated with obesity. The women were grouped into two categories, obese and nonobese, based on body mass index(kg/$m^2$). Average BMI of the total subjects was 24.3$\pm$4.8, but 34.7% of the subjects rated equal to or ore than 25 type, which can be considered as obese. The results showed that age, employment status, family type, and food frequency score have a statistically significant association with obesity. However, education level, nutrition knowledge, availability of housemaids, family history of obesity, and house type are not related to obesity . There were no differences in sources of nutrition information between the obese and the nonobese. The above results suggest that health education programs should consider environmental factors as well as health factors in preventing obesity obesity in the community.