Evaluating efficacy of the nutrition improvement by educating and encouraging use of available food in the households at the communes of Thanh MiÖn district, H¶i D­¬ng province. Results: the diet was significantly improved. Average energy per capital a day was 2002 kcal, was higher than this in 1994. Content of carotene and vitamin A in the diet in 1998 was higher 4 times than this 1994 and higher 2 times than this in 1996. The rate of malnutrition type under weight was significantly reduced. The rate of malnutrition type height was reduced 2% every year but still was high rate (40.2%). The knowledge and practice of mothers and families were improved obviously
Nutritional Status ; Diet ; Rural Health

Study on the elderly with the age over 60 years old belong to the Nguyen Trai ward, Ha Dong town; Phu Yen commune, Phu Xuyen district; Liep Tuyet commune, Quoc Oai district, Ha Tay province. Result: the prevalence of the elderly was 96.1%, among them 61.5% with one disease, 20.7% with two diseases and 13.9% with three diseases. The most common diseases as follows: circulation system was 35.5%, then muscle-bone-joint system 20.7%. The other diseases were under 10%. The water resourses, smoking state, drinking alcohol, all impacted to the health. When being sick almost of the elderly depended to their children, 42.2% of the elderly cared themselves. Only under 6% of the elderly without satisfy with the current healthcare. Otherwhile, only from 1.4% to 35.6% satisfied, the rest was content but moderate
Aged ; epidemiology ; Health ; Nutritional Status

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to introduce the concept of health inequalities, and to discuss the underlying assumptions and ethical backgrounds associated with the issue, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of health inequalities. METHODS: Based on a review of the literature, we summarize the concepts of health inequalities and inequities and discuss the underlying assumptions and ethical backgrounds associated with these issues from the view of social justice theory. We then discuss the theoretical and practical implications of health inequalities. RESULTS: Health inequality involves ethical considerations, such as judgments on fairness, and it could provide a sensitive barometer to reflect the fairness of social arrangements. Discussion on health inequalities could deepen our understanding of the social etiology of health and provide a basis for the development of comprehensive and integrative social policies. CONCLUSIONS: Health equity is not a social goal in and of itself, but should be considered as a part of a broader effort to seek social justice.
*Health Status Disparities ; Humans ; Korea ; Public Health/*ethics ; *Social Justice

Study on 49 adult patients with nasogastric feeding tubes treated at 3 departments of Bach Mai Hospital. Results: almost patients were over 60 years old (53.06%), 75.5% of patients were provided sufficient protein amount per day. 20.4% of patients were provided high protein amount. 100% of patients with nasogastric feeding tubes were infused simultaneously. 44.9% patients had concomitant infections. 10.20% patients experienced edema when hospitalizing. Total energy per day was between 1700 and 2300 kcal. No one had feeding tube-related pulmonary complications. 8.16% patients had nasal ulcer, 4.08% had pressure ulcer, and 7.2% had gastrointestinal disturbances. 83.6% patients were provided processing foods.
Intubation, Gastrointestinal ; Nutritional Status ; Delivery of Health Care

An intervention study with the case-control design was conducted at 8 schools of 4 communes of Vu Thu district, Thai Binh province. The improved communicating methods (called Active communicating method - "directly ask/answer") were used to educate students, teachers, and parents on nutrition and hygiene for better health for 3 years. An assessment of one year intervention on pupils' and their parents' knowledge about nutrition and hygiene showed that the knowledge of pupils and their parents was significantly increased (P<0.05). In addition, the model of school-based active communicating method - "directly ask/answer" was positively supported by many teachers, pupils and their parents
nutrition, hygienic knowledge ; Nutritional Status ; Hygiene ; health

Underlying causes of most nutrition related problems are diverse, including biological, social, cultural, and economic factors. Qualitative approaches complement quantitative methods in identifying the underlying meanings and patterns of relationships involved in managing malnutrition. This study examined perceptions regarding malnutrition among health workers from 7 clinics (community and health clinics) in Tumpat, Kelantan. A total of 18 nurses and 2 doctors, who were involved in monitoring child health and nutrition, were included in the study. These health workers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from Sastry’s framework on malnutrition (Sastry, 1996). The questionnaire included biological, behavioral and environmental factors that influence child health and nutrition. All the health workers perceived that mothers/caregivers play the main role in improving the health of malnourished children. The quality of childcare was rated as moderately satisfactory by the health workers. Most of the affected families who were given the Food Baskets did not fully use all the items for the malnourished child. Child feeding practice was based on the needs of the whole family rather than according to the target child’s needs. Most of the mothers preferred processed cereals than rice porridge because the former is easier to prepare for the child. Although they were from a low socioeconomic background, most of the mothers were not earning additional income for the family. The qualitative methodology provided information that can be used as a basis for the designing of quantitative questionnaires to assess malnutrition among children. The induction characteristic of qualitative methods was used to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons or phenomena such as behaviours that are directly observable.
Health ; Child ; Malnutrition ; workforce ; Nutritional status

In order to reduce the health inequalities within a society changes need to be made in broad health determinants and their distribution in the population. It has been expected that the Health impact assessment(HIA) and Healthy Cities can provide opportunities and useful means for changing social policy and environment related with the broad health determinants in developed countries. HIA is any combination of procedures or methods by which a proposed 4P(policy, plan, program, project) may be judged as to the effects it may have on the health of a population. Healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential. In Korea, social and academic interest regarding the HIA and Healthy Cities has been growing recently but the need of HIA and Healthy Cities in the perspective of reducing health inequality was not introduced adequately. So we reviewed the basic concepts and methods of the HIA and Healthy Cities, and its possible contribution to reducing health inequalities. We concluded that though the concepts and methods of the HIA and Healthy Cities are relatively new and still in need of improvement, they will be useful in approaching the issue of health inequality in Korea.
Health Planning/*methods ; Health Services Accessibility ; *Health Status Disparities ; Humans ; Korea ; *Urban Health ; Urban Population

No abstract available.
Female ; *Health Status Disparities ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity/*epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: Socioeconomic position (SEP) refers to the socioeconomic factors that influence which position an individual or group of people will hold within the structure of a society. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of various indicators of SEP, including education level, occupation-based SEP, income and wealth, area SEP, lifecourse SEP, and SEP indicators for women, elderly and youth. METHODS AND RESULTS: This report provides a brief theoretical background and discusses the measurement, interpretation issues, advantages and limitations associated with the use of each SEP indicator. We also describe some problems that arise when selecting SEP indicators and highlight the indicators that appear to be appropriate for health inequality research. Some practical information for use in health inequality research in South Korea is also presented. CONCLUSIONS: Investigation into the associations between various SEP indicators and health outcomes can provide a more complete understanding of mechanisms between SEP and health. The relationship between specific SEP indicators and specific health outcomes can vary by country due to the differences in the historical, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts of the SEP indicators.
*Health Status Disparities ; Humans ; Korea ; *Research ; *Social Class

OBJECTIVES: The validity of instruments measuring socioeconomic position (SEP) has been a major area of concern in research on cardiovascular health disparities. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the current status of the methods used to measure SEP in research on cardiovascular health disparities in Korea and to provide directions for future research. METHODS: Relevant articles were obtained through electronic database searches with manual searches of reference lists and no restriction on the date of publication. SEP indicators were categorized into compositional, contextual, composite, and life-course measures. RESULTS: Forty-eight studies published from 2003 to 2018 satisfied the review criteria. Studies utilizing compositional measures mainly relied on a limited number of SEP parameters. In addition, these measures hardly addressed the time-varying and subjective features of SEP. Finding valid contextual measures at the organizational, community, and societal levels that are appropriate to Korea’s context remains a challenge, and these are rarely modeled simultaneously. Studies have rarely focused on composite and life-course measures. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should develop and utilize valid compositional and contextual measures and appraise social patterns that vary across time, place, and culture using such measures. Studies should also consider multilevel influences, adding a focus on the interactions between different levels of intertwined SEP factors to advance the design of research. More attention should be given to composite and life-course measures.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Health Status Disparities ; Korea ; Publications ; Socioeconomic Factors