Heavy metals, which are persistent in the environment and toxic, can accumulate in the body and cause organ damage, which may further negatively affect perinatal women and their fetuses. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary interventions to reduce heavy metal exposure in antepartum and postpartum women. Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) for randomized controlled trials that provided dietary interventions for antepartum and postpartum women. Quality assessments were conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, a quality assessment tool for randomized controlled trials. Results: A total of seven studies were included. The studies were conducted in six countries, with interventions categorized into “nutritional supplements,” “food supply,” and “educational” strategies. Interventions involving nutritional supplements, such as calcium and probiotics, primarily reduced heavy metal levels in the blood and minimized toxicity. Food-based interventions, including specific fruit consumption, decreased heavy metal concentrations in breast milk. Educational interventions effectively promoted behavioral changes, such as adopting diets low in mercury. The studies demonstrated a low overall risk of bias, supporting the reliability of the findings. These strategies underscore the effectiveness of dietary approaches in mitigating heavy metal exposure and improving maternal and child health. Conclusion: The main findings underscore the importance of dietary interventions in reducing heavy metal exposure. This emphasizes the critical role of nursing in guiding dietary strategies to minimize exposure risks, ultimately supporting maternal and fetal health during pregnancy.

Heavy metals, which are persistent in the environment and toxic, can accumulate in the body and cause organ damage, which may further negatively affect perinatal women and their fetuses. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary interventions to reduce heavy metal exposure in antepartum and postpartum women. Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) for randomized controlled trials that provided dietary interventions for antepartum and postpartum women. Quality assessments were conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, a quality assessment tool for randomized controlled trials. Results: A total of seven studies were included. The studies were conducted in six countries, with interventions categorized into “nutritional supplements,” “food supply,” and “educational” strategies. Interventions involving nutritional supplements, such as calcium and probiotics, primarily reduced heavy metal levels in the blood and minimized toxicity. Food-based interventions, including specific fruit consumption, decreased heavy metal concentrations in breast milk. Educational interventions effectively promoted behavioral changes, such as adopting diets low in mercury. The studies demonstrated a low overall risk of bias, supporting the reliability of the findings. These strategies underscore the effectiveness of dietary approaches in mitigating heavy metal exposure and improving maternal and child health. Conclusion: The main findings underscore the importance of dietary interventions in reducing heavy metal exposure. This emphasizes the critical role of nursing in guiding dietary strategies to minimize exposure risks, ultimately supporting maternal and fetal health during pregnancy.

Heavy metals, which are persistent in the environment and toxic, can accumulate in the body and cause organ damage, which may further negatively affect perinatal women and their fetuses. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary interventions to reduce heavy metal exposure in antepartum and postpartum women. Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) for randomized controlled trials that provided dietary interventions for antepartum and postpartum women. Quality assessments were conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, a quality assessment tool for randomized controlled trials. Results: A total of seven studies were included. The studies were conducted in six countries, with interventions categorized into “nutritional supplements,” “food supply,” and “educational” strategies. Interventions involving nutritional supplements, such as calcium and probiotics, primarily reduced heavy metal levels in the blood and minimized toxicity. Food-based interventions, including specific fruit consumption, decreased heavy metal concentrations in breast milk. Educational interventions effectively promoted behavioral changes, such as adopting diets low in mercury. The studies demonstrated a low overall risk of bias, supporting the reliability of the findings. These strategies underscore the effectiveness of dietary approaches in mitigating heavy metal exposure and improving maternal and child health. Conclusion: The main findings underscore the importance of dietary interventions in reducing heavy metal exposure. This emphasizes the critical role of nursing in guiding dietary strategies to minimize exposure risks, ultimately supporting maternal and fetal health during pregnancy.

Heavy metals, which are persistent in the environment and toxic, can accumulate in the body and cause organ damage, which may further negatively affect perinatal women and their fetuses. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary interventions to reduce heavy metal exposure in antepartum and postpartum women. Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) for randomized controlled trials that provided dietary interventions for antepartum and postpartum women. Quality assessments were conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, a quality assessment tool for randomized controlled trials. Results: A total of seven studies were included. The studies were conducted in six countries, with interventions categorized into “nutritional supplements,” “food supply,” and “educational” strategies. Interventions involving nutritional supplements, such as calcium and probiotics, primarily reduced heavy metal levels in the blood and minimized toxicity. Food-based interventions, including specific fruit consumption, decreased heavy metal concentrations in breast milk. Educational interventions effectively promoted behavioral changes, such as adopting diets low in mercury. The studies demonstrated a low overall risk of bias, supporting the reliability of the findings. These strategies underscore the effectiveness of dietary approaches in mitigating heavy metal exposure and improving maternal and child health. Conclusion: The main findings underscore the importance of dietary interventions in reducing heavy metal exposure. This emphasizes the critical role of nursing in guiding dietary strategies to minimize exposure risks, ultimately supporting maternal and fetal health during pregnancy.

Heavy metals, which are persistent in the environment and toxic, can accumulate in the body and cause organ damage, which may further negatively affect perinatal women and their fetuses. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary interventions to reduce heavy metal exposure in antepartum and postpartum women. Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) for randomized controlled trials that provided dietary interventions for antepartum and postpartum women. Quality assessments were conducted independently by two reviewers using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, a quality assessment tool for randomized controlled trials. Results: A total of seven studies were included. The studies were conducted in six countries, with interventions categorized into “nutritional supplements,” “food supply,” and “educational” strategies. Interventions involving nutritional supplements, such as calcium and probiotics, primarily reduced heavy metal levels in the blood and minimized toxicity. Food-based interventions, including specific fruit consumption, decreased heavy metal concentrations in breast milk. Educational interventions effectively promoted behavioral changes, such as adopting diets low in mercury. The studies demonstrated a low overall risk of bias, supporting the reliability of the findings. These strategies underscore the effectiveness of dietary approaches in mitigating heavy metal exposure and improving maternal and child health. Conclusion: The main findings underscore the importance of dietary interventions in reducing heavy metal exposure. This emphasizes the critical role of nursing in guiding dietary strategies to minimize exposure risks, ultimately supporting maternal and fetal health during pregnancy.

Objectives: This study examined the dietary characteristics and needs for community kitchens among young adults of single-person households in Seoul according to the cooking attitude. Methods: During April 2018, an online survey was conducted on young adults of singleperson households in their 20s and 30s residing in Seoul. The respondents were classified into the more positive cooking attitude group (More Positive Group; n=152, mean=4.11) and the less positive cooking attitude group (Less Positive Group; n=190, mean=3.03) based on the mean score (3.51) of the 4-item 5-point Likert scales measuring the cooking attitude. The responses of the two groups were compared. Results: Approximately 90% of the More Positive Group had the cooking ability to prepare ordinary meals or more advanced cooking skills, whereas only 61% of the Less Positive Group had such skills. Approximately a half of the More Positive Group cooked at home three times a week or more; only 30% of the Less Positive Group did so, and more than 30% of the group seldom cooked. The More Positive Group had higher mean scores in the levels of satisfaction with dietary life and care for food safety and nutrition than the Less Positive Group. Approximately 30% of all the respondents expressed their needs for community kitchens. The most frequently answered reason for such needs was “being able to have a meal with others”. Conclusions The young adults of single-person households with a more positive cooking attitude possessed a higher cooking ability, cooked more often, and cared more about food safety and nutrition than those with a less positive cooking attitude. There were moderate needs for community kitchens among young adults of single-person households living in Seoul. Therefore, societal efforts to improve their cooking attitude would be meaningful for improving their quality of dietary life. Cooking lessons or social dining programs based on community kitchens could be an option.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age and is associated with an increased risk of obesity, compensatory hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and endometrial cancer. This study analyzed 544619 women using the Korean Informative Classification of Disease, version 10, codes E28.0–E28.9 in the population-based National Health Information Databases from 2010 to 2019. The age-adjusted incidence and prevalence rates of PCOS over 10 years among Korean women were 2.8% and 4.3%, respectively; and they increased in the late teens, peaked in the 20s, and began to decrease at the age of 30. We also found that the body mass index, levels of fasting blood glucose, and high-density lipoprotein values in the recent two years (2018–2019) were higher in women with PCOS compared to the general population. This is the first study to investigate the prevalence of PCOS in a nationwide population of reproductive-aged Korean women. Further research is needed to examine the short- and long-term health risks and psychological problems associated with PCOS.

This study aimed to investigate the concentrations of nonpersistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk through a literature review and to affirm the association between EDCs and lifestyle factors based on the reviewed literature. We analyzed studies reporting EDC concentrations in breast milk from literature published on Google Scholar and PubMed between 2000 and 2022. In Korea, most EDC concentrations in breast milk were comparable to or lower than those in other countries. However, the concentrations of PFAS in breast milk, especially perfluorooctanoic acid, have shown an increasing trend compared to the past in Korea. Considering the potential risks of EDCs, breastfeeding mothers should take measures to minimize their exposure to these chemicals.