• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2002

This study was done to determine the factors associated with childhood overweight in 721 sixth grade elementary school students, in Busan. The students' heights, weights, waist circumferences and triceps-skinfold thicknesses were measured using standard techniques. Other data were collected using a questionnaire that included information about physical activity, television watching, and the amount of exorcise taken during leisure times, family history of diseases related to obesity: social data including family income, parents'education and occupations, eating behaviors; parental weights and heights; and parental activity levels. Childhood overweight was defined as a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex. The prevalence of overweight revealed no significant difference between sexes, (24.2% in boys and 22.03% in girls). The risk of childhood overweight was significantly greater if either the mother or the father were overweight. The odds ratio for childhood overweight associated with maternal overweight was 5.045 (94% CI : 3.262-7.801), and 2.727 (95% CI : 1.764-4.218) was the case for parental overweight. Children having a history of hear diseases had higher odds ratios than those who did not. The odds ratios for overweight associated with income were not different. However, a higher odds ratio for overweight was observed in children whose fathers had only an elementary or middle school education than those whore fathers had a high school or college education. Children whose fathers' occupations were service workers or shopkeepers (OR : 3.314, 95% C = 1.851-5.934) or had no occupation (OR = 3.756, 95% CI : 1.898-7.430) had a treater risk of overweight than those whose fathers'were professionals or once workers. The risk of overweight increased in children having more irregular meal times and faster eating times, rather than those having an intake pattern of high energy and sugar containing floods. The amount of exercise taken during leisure times, and daily physical activity showed no difference between overweight and non-overweight children. However, television watching time, especially on weekends, was greater in overweight children than in non-overweight children. Television watching time was positively correlated with BMI, triceps-skin(31d thickness, waist circumference and waist/height ratio. Therefore, television watching was found to be a useful predictor of overweight in children. Television watching in children was negatively related to paternal activity levels, and positively related to parental television watching time. In fact, fathers whose children were overweight were physically less active than fathers whose children were non-overweight. Parents appeared to be a strong influence on their children's physical activity levels. In conclusion, a low family social class, defined on the basis of the father's occupation or education, parental overweight, increased television watching, and unhealthy physical activity levels in parents were all considered risk factors for childhood overweight. Among these, television watching time and lack of physical activity were considered to be the most important risk factors that could be easily modified for the prevention of and intervention in, overweight in children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.170-178
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• 2010

We conducted this study to determine the factors associated with childhood obesity. The subjects were 170 preschool children in Busan. Data were collected by using questionnaires which asked for information about socioeconomic status, parental perception of their child's weight status and dietary/physical activity behavior. BMI was calculated for each child and their classification was determined, according to their age and sex, as follows: "overweight" at or above the 85th percentile, "normal" for the 15th-85th percentile, and with a BMI below the 15th percentile the children were deemed as underweight. Classification according to BMI percentile showed that 23.5% ($18.25{\pm}1.33\;kg/m^2$) of the children were overweight, 62.9% ($15.51{\pm}0.76\;kg/m^2$) normal, and 13.5% ($13.23{\pm}2.86\;kg/m^2$) were underweight. Socioeconomic status, as represented by the parents' level of education, the occupation of the father and the household income, did not affect the results. However, mothers working outside the household was a factor that was more likely to affect the weight status (p<0.05). Among mothers whose children were overweight, 30% underestimated their children's weight status (believing them to be of normal weight when they were overweight), and 25% failed to recognize the necessity of weight control for their overweight children. While sedentary activity and total daily activity levels were not related to BMI, the level of physically active leisure activity was inversely correlated with BMI (p<0.05). Although there were no differences in total energy intake, dietary behavior was significantly related to weight status. Overweight children had poor eating tendancies: they eat faster (in less than 15 minutes), overeat, and eat late at night. Based on our findings where hereby recommended the following interventions to help limit weight problems in Korean pre-schoolers: early promotion of active leisure behavior and healthy eating habits, along with attempting to correct parental misperception of healthy weight status for children.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.175-187
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the potential risk factors - children's factors, parental factors, and familial-environmental factors - with respect to overweight and obesity in Korean preschool children. Methods: This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design and involved 264 pairs of mothers and preschool children aged 3-5 years (121 boys, 143 girls) attending daycare centers in C city. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify significant risk factors for overweight and obesity in preschool children. Results: According to the multivariate logistic regression, family history of diabetes mellitus as children's factors, overweight or obesity of both parents as parental factors were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of overweight and obesity in preschool children. In addition, lack of community space for physical activity as familial-environmental factors was significantly associated with increased likelihood of overweight and obesity. Conclusions: Health care providers should concerned with the risk of overweight and obesity in children with high risk familial factors, such as family history of obesity and diabetes mellitus. Moreover, policies should be set in place to make sure communities include space that foster physical activity in young children.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.237-246
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of preschooler obesity/overweight and to identify associated factors. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. Data for 591 preschoolers, 432 fathers and 538 mothers from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2014 were included. Obesity/overweight was defined by 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. T-test, Rao-Scott ${\chi}^2$, multivariate logistic regression was used for the analysis. Results: Prevalence rates for preschooler obesity/overweight were 14.9% (obesity, 5.4%; overweight, 9.5%). The preschoolers with atopic dermatitis or allergic rhinitis or asthma (OR=2.78, 95% CI [1.27-6.09], p=.011) and eating more thiamine per day (OR=1.01, 95% CI [1.00-1.02], p=.001) showed higher obesity/overweight development. The only parental factor affecting preschooler obesity/overweight was parental body mass index (father, OR=1.18, 95% CI [1.09-1.28], p<.001; mother, OR=1.09, 95% CI [1.04-1.15], p<.001). Conclusion: Interventions on preventing preschooler obesity should be introduced much earlier for children with risk factors. Results from this study can be used as preliminary data to develop effective strategies to prevent obesity in Korean preschoolers.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with child's Body Mass Index (BMI) and physical activity. The participants (n = 133) were Korean juveniles (3^rd and 4^th graders) and their parents. They completed a questionnaire packet including the SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids) survey and the parent equivalent survey. Correlation, multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression analyses were applied to identify the association between child's BMI and 10 factors of SPARK as predict or variables. 25.6% of the participants were classified as overweight (21.1%) or obesity (4.5%). 3 parental factors including mother's BMI and frequency of mother's and father's physical activity were identified as significant predictors of children's BMI. The 10 variables accounted for 28% of the variance (p<.01) in the linear regression model. These results provide insight into parental factors which are related to a child's BMI and physical activity. Parental role modeling which refers to parents' efforts to model an active lifestyle for children plays an important role.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.173-182
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• 2013

Obesity during childhood is a dominant risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and is itself considered a disease that needs to be treated. Recently, the growth in childhood obesity in Korea has become stagnant; however, two in every ten children are still overweight. In addition, 60% or more of overweight children have at least one metabolic syndrome risk factor. Thus, childhood obesity should be controlled through lifestyle modification. This paper reviews studies of the modifiable risk factors of obesity in Korean children. According to the life-course approach, preschool-aged children (<5 years) are influenced by their parents rather than individual habits because they are under mostly parental care. Elementary school-aged children (6 to 11 years) are affected by overlapping individual and parental effects. This may mean that the establishment of individual behavior patterns begins during this period. The conditions of poor eating habits such as skipping meals, eating out, and high fat intake, along with low physical activity, facilitate increased obesity among adolescents (12 to 18 years). Notably, adolescent girls show high rates of both underweight and obesity, which may lead to the development of NCDs in their offspring. Therefore, the problem of NCDs is no longer limited to adults, but is also prevalent among children. In addition, early intervention offers cost-effective opportunities for preventing NCDs. Thus, children need primary consideration, adequate monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment to reduce the burden of NCDs later in adulthood.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.353-364
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between socioeconomic factors, health behaviors and overweight and to provide information in the policy making process for ensuring health equity. Data of 66,249 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years were derived from the Ninth Korean Youth's Risk Web-based Study, which was conducted in 2013. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that overweight were related with gender, parental education, frequency of having breakfast, fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, snack consumption, and frequency of physical activity. Therefore public health programmes should target unhealthy behaviour of adolescents from lower socioeconomic groups to help prevent future life-course disadvantages in terms of health and social inequalities.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.416-427
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• 2011

This study investigated the association among parental socioeconomic level, overweight, and eating habits with diet quality in Korean sixth grade school children. A 3-day dietary survey was conducted, and a questionnaire and anthropometric data were collected from the Korean child obesity cohort (320 boys and 345 girls). The children were classified into two groups (low or high level) based on monthly household income and paternal and maternal education status. Lower maternal education status was associated with a higher risk for overweight in girls (odd ratio, 1.91; 95% confidence interval 1.07-3.44), whereas belonging to a higher socioeconomic group in terms of parental income or parental education level resulted in the consumption of significantly more fruit. Boys did not show significant differences in the intake of most nutrients or diet quality regardless of socioeconomic status. However, girls in the lower socioeconomic group had a lower food habit score (higher frequency of breakfast skipping and ramen noodle consumption), diet quality, and intake of nutrients (carbohydrate, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber) than those in the higher socioeconomic group. Therefore future nutrition policies and interventions should support parents and children with lower socioeconomic status to develop health-related behaviors that may prevent childhood overweight.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.216-225
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the associations between obesity and the children's Nutrition Quotient (NQ) and to further examine the relationships between NQ and mini dietary assessment (MDA) of their parents. Methods: The subjects were 355 children aged 3 to 5 years and their parents in Dongducheon. We collected parental-reported NQ questionnaires for children and MDA of parents. Anthropometric measurements, height, weight and BMI by BIA were measured in children. Overweight and obesity were determined according to age- and sex-specific BMI percentile from the 2007 Korean national growth chart. Statistical analyses consisted of the chi-squared test, ANOVA, partial correlations and logistic regression analysis adjustments for parents BMI. Results: Approximately 20.8% of preschool children were classified as overweight or obese. Underweight children showed a significantly higher score for balance than overweight children. The NQ of the children was $61.9{\pm}11.6$, and NQ scores and their parents' MDA did not exhibit any significant differences according to degree of obesity. After adjusting for parent's BMI, children's BMI was significantly correlated with balance and moderation among NQ factors. Parent's MDA showed significant correlation with their children's NQ, balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, practice and NQ grade, except for diversity of father. Additionally, NQ grade had a significantly increased (150.1%) odds ratio (OR) of being overweight (95% CI 1.008-2.234). Conclusions: These results show that NQ for children is influenced by their parents' MDA and BMI. Furthermore, our findings support the association between overweight prevention and improvement of NQ grade among preschool children.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the degree of adherence to the Korean Dietary Action Guides for Children (KDAGC). In a cross-sectional study based on a child care center-based survey in Seoul, Korea, we collected parental-reported questionnaires (n = 2,038) on children's weight and height, frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption, and the quality of dietary and activity behaviors based on the 2009 KDAGC Adherence Index (KDAGCAI) which was developed as a composite measure of adherence to the KDAGC. Overweight and obesity were determined according to age- and sex-specific BMI percentile from the 2007 Korean national growth chart. Associations were assessed with generalized linear models and polytomous logistic regression models. Approximately 17.6% of Korean preschool children were classified as overweight or obese. Obese preschoolers had lower adherence to the KDAGCAI compared to those with lean/normal weight. Preschoolers with a high quality of dietary and activity behaviors had a 51% decreased odds ratio (OR) of being obese (highest vs. lowest tertile of KDAGCAI-score, 95% CI 0.31, 0.78; P = 0.001); the associations were more pronounced among those who were older (P = 0.048) and lived in lower income households (P = 0.014). A greater frequency of vegetable consumption, but not fruit, was associated with a borderline significant reduction in the prevalence of obesity. Our findings support the association between obesity prevention and high compliance with the Korean national dietary and activity guideline among preschool children.