PURPOSE: Since pathophysiologic evidence has been raised to suggest that obesity could facilitate an allergic reaction, obesity has been known as an independent risk factor for allergic disease such as asthma. However, the relationship between sedentary behavior and lifestyle which could lead to obesity, and those allergic diseases remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the relations between physical activity, including sitting time for study, sitting time for leisure and sleep time, and obesity, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis using the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, which was conducted in 2013. Total 53769 adolescent participants (12 through 18 years old) were analyzed using simple and multiple logistic regression analyses with complex sampling. RESULTS: Longer sitting time for study and short sitting time for leisure were associated with allergic rhinitis. High physical activity and short sleep time were associated with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Underweight was negatively associated with atopic dermatitis, whereas overweight was positively correlated with allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. CONCLUSION: High physical activity, and short sleep time were associated with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.
Adolescent* ; Asthma* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Korea ; Leisure Activities ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Motor Activity* ; Obesity* ; Overweight ; Rhinitis, Allergic* ; Risk Factors ; Risk-Taking ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Thinness

For healthy life and aging, healthy lifestyles are as important as chronic diseases. Smoking, drinking and overwork have a similar impact on one's life as diabetes, and sedentary lifestyle and stress are more serious than hypertension and obesity. Contrary to the public knowledge, the types of food intake have a relatively small impact, and functional foods are effective only with a given optimal nutrition. Traditionally Koreans think certain types of foods (so-called 'health foods') have great effects on their health, and this idea resulted in confusion of terms health foods with functional foods. The effectiveness of functional foods should be evaluated based on human experiments. The in vitro and animal studies provide only preliminary evidence. Functional foods are between optimum nutrition and drug therapy in its effectiveness. Physicians should have appropriate knowledge on nutrition and functional foods and recommend them to their patients as they do for drug therapy.
Aging ; Animals ; Chronic Disease ; Drinking ; Drug Therapy ; Eating ; Functional Food* ; Food, Organic ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Life Style ; Obesity ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relative contribution of lifestyle and obesity to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

METHODSAll baseline survey data were based on the program Prevention of Multiple Metabolic Disorders and Metabolic Syndrome in Jiangsu Province (PMMJS) which was conducted during April 1999 to May 2004. In the baseline survey, 8685 participants were selected using multi-stage sampling method. Frem March 2006 to November 2007, 4582 participants who had been in the study for at least 5 years were included in the follow-up survey. A total of 3847 participants were followed and of them 3461 non-diabetic subjects were included in this analysis. High fat diet or not, low fiber diet or not, sedentary or not and occupational physical activity classification were defined as lifestyle variables and the incidence of type 2 diabetes at follow-up survey was defined as outcome variable. It was prospectively examined that the separate and joint association of lifestyle and obesity with the development of type 2 diabetes in subjects recruited from PMMJS, using logistic regression model.

RESULTSA total of 162 incident cases of type 2 diabetes during 6.3 years of follow-up in total 3461 participants were documented. The incidence rate was 4.7%. After adjusted for sex, age, family history of diabetes, blood pressure, lipids and fast plasma glucose, risk of type 2 diabetes increased with lighter occupational physical activity (compared with vigorous group, moderate group aRR = 2.15, 95%CI: 1.26 - 3.68; light group aRR = 2.39, 95%CI: 1.12 - 4.87), sedentary lifestyle (aRR = 2.94, 95%CI: 1.90 - 4.54), low fiber diet (aRR = 1.58, 95%CI: 1.01 - 2.53), overweight (aRR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.01 - 1.90) and obesity (aRR = 1.59, 95%CI: 1.07 - 3.75). In joint analysis of lifestyle and obesity, the impact of sedentary lifestyle (in BMI < 25 group, aRR = 3.42, 95%CI: 1.99 - 5.86; in BMI ≥ 25 group, aRR = 2.41, 95%CI: 1.13 - 5.12) and low fiber diet (in BMI < 25 group, aRR = 1.42, 95%CI: 0.81 - 2.54; in BMI ≥ 25 group, aRR = 2.63, 95%CI: 1.15 - 6.03) on diabetes were independent of overweight and obesity. When stratified by sedentary lifestyle or low fiber diet, there was no association between overweight/obesity and diabetes risk (sedentary aRR = 2.04, 95%CI 0.87 - 4.71, non sedentary aRR = 1.21, 95%CI: 0.82 - 1.78; non low fiber diet aRR = 1.26, 95%CI: 0.87 - 1.84, low fiber diet aRR = 1.88, 95%CI: 0.80 - 4.80).

CONCLUSIONUnhealthy lifestyle, overweight and obesity independently increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. The magnitude of risk contributed by sedentary lifestyle and low fiber diet are much greater than that imparted by overweight and obesity.

Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; China ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Overweight ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sedentary Lifestyle

OBJECTIVETo find out the current situation of physical activity and its influencing factors among Chinese primary and middle school students.

METHODSA total of 166 812 students aged 9 - 18 finished the questionnaires of physical activities and lifestyle behaviors who were selected from "2010 National Physical Fitness and Health Surveillance". The subjects were sampled by stratified cluster sampling method in 30 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) except Tibet. The physical activity for a total of at least 60 minutes per day, attitudes on physical activity, parents' supports toward physical activity of children, development of school physical education, the schoolwork burden and sedentary lifestyle were all analyzed. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the physical activity for a total of at least 60 minutes per day and individual, family, school and sedentary behavior.

RESULTSA total of 22.7% (37 867/166 757) of primary and middle school students aged 9 - 18 had been physically active doing any kind of physical activity for a total of 60 minutes or more per day, the prevalence was higher among male (25.4%, 21 086/83 159) than female (20.1%, 16 781/83 598) students (P < 0.05). In the 9 - 12 age group, the prevalence was higher among urban (37.6%, 5 980/15 912) than rural (32.0%, 4 917/15 375) students (P < 0.05), but in the 16 - 18 age group, the case was opposite. The prevalence of doing physical activity for a total of 60 minutes or more per day among students who liked physical education (23.7%, 11 866/50 073), were willing to participate in the extracurricular sports activities (23.2%, 13 460/57 907), and were willing to participate long running exercise (26.9%, 9 185/34 153) was higher than those who dislike physical education (15.9%, 589/3705), were not willing to participate in the extracurricular sports activities (15.9%, 567/3565), and were not willing to participate long running exercise (12.1%, 2 246/18 493), respectively. The prevalence was higher among students whose parents supported their physical activity (20.4%, 15 148/74 312) than those students without parents' support (17.5%, 1626/9270) (P < 0.05). And the prevalence was higher among students whose parents often took part in the physical activity (22.7%, 12 864/56 769) than those students whose parents did not (14.6%, 3 906/26 780) (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis (adjusted sex, age and urban or not) demonstrated that variables associated with physical activity for a total of 60 minutes or more per day were the initiative will on the physical activity and parental physical activity (OR: 1.478, 95%CI: 1.398 - 1.562). The students without adequate physical education class in school were less likely to do physical activity for a total of 60 minutes or more per day than those who with adequate physical education class in school (OR: 0.536, 95%CI: 0.523 - 0.550), and the students in the school with the phenomenon of "crowding out" or "no" physical education were less likely to do physical activity for a total of 60 minutes or more per day than those whose school without these with phenomenon (OR: 0.712, 95%CI: 0.666 - 0.761). The heavy homework burden (OR: 0.926, 95%CI: 0.899 - 0.953) and long homework time (OR: 0.879, 95%CI: 0.853 - 0.906) were reversely related to the physical activity.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of having been physically active for a total of 60 minutes per day in Chinese students is still low. The strong initiative will on the physical activity, parental physical activity, and better school sports atmosphere are good for students to carry out physical activity, and the students with the heavy homework burden and long homework time are less likely to take part in the physical activity.

Adolescent ; Child ; China ; Exercise ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Physical Fitness ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The association between diabetes and lifestyle habit is well known. Recently many studies confirmed that lifestyle modification is effective in the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
Life Style*

Literature data on association between physical activity (PA) and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in non-clinical adults population are still limited. Thereby, the objective of this study was to evaluate the association between PA and HRQoL among the non-academic staff serving the Faculty of Health Sciences (FSK), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Kuala Lumpur (KL). In this cross sectional study, 105 non-academic staffs aged between 18 to 60 years were recruited. Self-administered questionnaires (Malay version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and World Health Organisation Quality of Life-Brief Version) were administered among the participants. Mann Whitney test and Spearman’s rho correlation were employed for the statistical analysis using SPSS version 22.0 Majority of participants (72.4%) demonstrated high PA scores of ≥ 3000 MET-minutes/week. PA scores between genders was not statistically significant (p = 0.137). However, total PA score of support staffs (median = 9039.0, IQR = 15811.00) was significantly higher compared to staffs in management and professional group (median = 4329.0, IQR = 4189.00). The mean(SD) self-perceived HRQoL score was 3.4 (0.76). There were no significant correlation between PA and all domains of HRQoL such as physical health, psychological, social relationship and environmental domains (Correlation coefficient, ρ = -0.108, 0.003, -0.023, 0.026 respectively) with p = 0.273, 0.978, 0.818, 0.794 respectively. Majority of non-academic staffs of FSK, UKM engaged in high physical activity. The PA levels of support staffs were significantly higher than management and professional staffs. However, there was no statistically significant correlation observed between PA and domains of HRQoL.
Life Style

This study aims to determine the association between obesity-related behaviors (dietary practices, physical activity and body image) and body weight status among adolescents. A total of 382 adolescents (187 males and 195 females) aged 13 to 15 years in Kajang, Selangor participated in this study. Majority of the respondents were Malays (56.0%), followed by Chinese (30.1%) and Indians (13.9%). Dietary practices, physical activity and body image of the adolescents were assessed through the eating behaviors questionnaire, two-day dietary record, two-day physical activity record and multi-dimensional body image scale (MBIS), respectively. Body weight and height were measured by trained researchers. The prevalence of overweight and obesity (19.5%) was about twice the prevalence of underweight (10.5%). About two-thirds of the respondents (72.3%) skipped at least one meal and half of them (56.2%) snacked between meals with a mean energy intake of 1,641 +/- 452 kcal/day. More than half of the respondents (56.8%) were practicing sedentary lifestyle with a mean energy expenditure of 1,631 +/- 573 kcal per day. Energy intake (r = 0.153, P < 0.05), physical activity (r = 0.463, P < 0.01) and body image (r = 0.424, P < 0.01) were correlated with BMI. However, meal skipping, snacking and energy expenditure per kg body weight were not associated with body weight status. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that body image, physical activity and energy intake contributed significantly in explaining body weight status of the adolescents. In short, overweight and obesity were likely to be associated not only with energy intake and physical activity, but also body image. Hence, promoting healthy eating, active lifestyle and positive body image should be incorporated in future obesity prevention programmes in adolescents.
Adolescent ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Image ; Body Weight ; Diet Records ; Eating ; Energy Intake ; Energy Metabolism ; Feeding Behavior ; Humans ; Life Style ; Linear Models ; Male ; Meals ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Snacks ; Thinness

This study compared obese children's food group intakes with the new Dietary References Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) food guides for 5th-6th grade school children. This study also determined the extent of sedentary life styles related with obesity in this area of children. This is a cross-sectional study of 799 school children. The dietitian sent a survey form describing the project and a questionnaire to the subject's family. The questionnaire included child demographics, family history of chronic diseases, the daily servings of five food groups, such as grains, meat and beans, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. The daily or weekly hours of physical activity, television viewing, and computer usage were also surveyed. Obesity index (%) of the subjects was calculated, and children with an obesity index (%) equal to or greater than 20 were classified as the obese. Among the 799 participants, 50.7% were female. The percentages of the normal and the obese were 691 (86.5%) and 108 (13.5%) respectively. Obese children reported eating less vegetables (p<0.05), more high sugar snacks (p<0.05), and high fat snacks (p<0.05) than normal children. No significant differences in food servings of grains, meats and beans, and fruits, and dairy products between the normal and the obese were shown. Obese children reported fewer hours of physical activities (p<0.05) and more hours of computer usage (p<0.05) than normal children. Girls showed less likelihood of being obese (odds ratio, 0.575, CI (0.38, 0.87), p<0.05). More hours of physical activity significantly decreased the likelihood of being obese (odds ratio, 0.572, CI (0.35, 0.92), p<0.05). Family history of obesity almost doubled the likelihood of obesity in children (odds ratio, 2.653, CI (1.660, 4.241), p<0.05). In conclusion, frequent snacking, inadequate vegetable consumption, and sedentary lifestyle increased significantly the likelihood of obesity in children, which suggest that obesity intervention in this age group should focuse more on those variables.
Edible Grain ; Child* ; Chronic Disease ; Compliance* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dairy Products ; Demography ; Diet* ; Eating ; Fabaceae ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Style* ; Meat ; Motor Activity ; Nutritionists ; Obesity* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Seoul* ; Snacks ; Television ; Vegetables

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.
Adolescent ; Child ; Chronic Disease/*epidemiology ; Diet ; Female ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/epidemiology/*etiology/*prevention & control ; Obesity/*complications/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Parent-Child Relations ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sedentary Lifestyle

BACKGROUND: Sedentary behavior has been shown to have deleterious effects on cardiovascular outcomes. This study aimed to examine the association between sedentary time and cardiovascular risk factors in Korean adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed using data from adults aged 19 years and above in the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Sedentary time was self-reported and categorized into quintiles. Cardiovascular risk factors, including blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose levels, were categorized into dichotomous variables according to the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Multivariate logistic regression was performed with adjustment for various demographic and lifestyle variables, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Complex sampling design was used, and survey weights and sample design variables were applied in analyses. RESULTS: A total of 3,301 individuals were included in the analyses, and mean sedentary time was 6.1 h/d. Prolonged sedentary time was significantly associated with high diastolic BP (top vs. bottom quintile: adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–2.68; Ptrend=0.03) and low HDL cholesterol level (top vs. bottom quintile: adjusted OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.02–1.98; Ptrend=0.02) after adjustment for BMI, WC, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and other variables. No significant associations were found between sedentary time and other cardiovascular risk factors. CONCLUSION: Prolonged sedentary time was significantly associated with high diastolic BP and low HDL cholesterol level in Korean adults. The associations were independent of general and abdominal obesity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Humans ; Life Style ; Lipoproteins ; Logistic Models ; Motor Activity ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference ; Weights and Measures