This study was conducted to evaluate the workers' health conditions, nutritional status, food habits, and their needs for the nutrition programs at the worksite. Three hundred and fifty one(men 260, women 91) employees from 11 companies in urban area were recruited for the study. The results of this study were as follows : The average consumption of nutrients in the subjects' diets were found to be deficient such as total energy, calcium, iron, vitamin A and B2. More than 42% of the subjects have at least one of the chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes mellitus, anemia, hypercholesterolemia, liver disease, and hypertension. Most subjects did not recognize their own blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure, or blood sugar level. Nutrition knowledge scores of the subjects were very low, which was only 52.4%. It should be noted that weight problems and other health problems of the employees at the worksite were frequently found among the employees who had relatively low nutrition knowledge scores. The nutrition programs for prevention of the obeses, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, stress, and smoking were urgently needed by the subjects. Many subjects also wanted the nutrition education programs for their family.
Anemia ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Calcium ; Cholesterol ; Chronic Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Education ; Female ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Iron ; Korea* ; Liver Diseases ; Nutritional Status* ; Obesity ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Vitamin A ; Workplace

In this study, a computerized nutritional and health guide program for workers was developed. The dietitian at the work site could utilize periodically conducted medical examination data to develop an effective health care counseling model based on the developed Nutritional and Health Guide Program. A personal computer (Pentium II PC MMX-150, 32MB RAM, 2.95 GB HDD) with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft Access 97 installed, was used. The Nutritional and Health Guide Program consisted of seven main menus and 43 sub-menus. Included in the main menu were Basic Information, Periodic Health Check-ups, Visitors' Consultations, Nutritional/Health Tips, Nutritional Education according to Diseases, Help and Exit. In the Periodic Health Check-up menu, dieticians could input the health examination data of employees and touch for the recommended treatments for diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and hepatitis. The Visitors' Consultation menu has been designed to compile health information about the employees who sought consultations. The Nutritional/Health Tips menu was designed to provide 14 kinds of programmed nutritional educational media and information. In the Nutritional Education According to Diseases menu, the dietitian could judge the subject's willingness to obtain treatment based on the Stage of Change Model. According, the content of the administered respective nutritional education was classified by stages. The Help menu, provide a chart of the method and procedure used as nutritional guidelines, by which the results of the health examination were classified as people in good health and those requiring special medical attention. The results of the evaluation of this program showed highly positive rates for usefulness (4.09), convenience (4.04), lettering size (4.02), interest (3.93), design (3.49). It also showed that 97.5% of the subjects thought that this program would be helpful for implementation of their company's nutritional educational program. Therefore, this menu could help dietitians plan, conduct, and evaluate their nutritional guidelines for employees. It is expected that The Nutritional and Health Guide Program developed in this study will play a role as a scientific and effective guide in conjunction with health examination results.
Cholesterol ; Counseling ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Hepatitis ; Hypertension ; Microcomputers ; Nutritionists ; Obesity ; Referral and Consultation ; Workplace

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the differential effects caused by the interviewers and the days of the week using the 24-hour dietary recall method on the dietary evaluation of nutrient intakes. Thirteen subjects were interviewed by three trained interviewers on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The consumption of nutrients by the subjects during each day was assessed. The average intake of nutrients was found to be sufficient except in calcium, iron, and vitamin A. there was a significant difference between the food intake on the weekdays and that o the weekend. However, the were no significant differences between the interviewers assessments on the intake of nutrients consumed by the subjects. The standardization of the portion size, interview skill and experience may be a few of the reasons explaining the elimination of the potential error created by variations among the interviewers. This study suggests that repeated 24-hour recalls during weekdays and weekends may be a better method for estimating the nutrients consumed by the subjects.
Calcium ; Eating ; Interviews as Topic ; Iron ; Portion Size ; Vitamin A

No abstract available.
Democratic People's Republic of Korea*

Since the 1970s, the average life expectancy of Koreans has been increasing. Our concerns are not simply about longevity, but also about disability-free life. lately, Sasang constitutional medicine has attracted public attention, especially with respect to the elderly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the food habits, nutrients intake, and disease distribution among the elderly, according to their Sasang constitutions. The results are as follow : The distribution of constitutions of the subjects were Tae-eum 48.8%, So-yang 27.4%, So-eum 22.6%, and So-yang + So-eum 1.2%. In both elderly men and women, body weight, percent ideal body weight, and diastolic pressure of the Tae-eum were significantly higher than those of other constitutions. In both men and women, the level of hemoglobin in the Tae-eum was significantly higher than those of other constitutions. The level of LDL-cholesterol was higher, and the level of HDL-cholesterol was lower in the So-eum elderly women. Food habits of the So-eum were the most irregular, and nutrients intake of the So-eum was lower than that of other constitutions in both elderly men and women. In elderly men, the incidence of hypertension was the highest in the Tae-eum, and the incidence of gastritis was the highest in both So-yang and So-eum. In elderly women, the incidence of fatty liver was the highest in the Tae-eum and So-yang, and gastritis and hypertension were the highest in the So-eum. In the elderly, obese and anemic persons were significantly more in the Tae-eum and the So-eum, respectively. The results of this study showed that there were significant differences of physical, characeristics, food, habits, and distributions of disease for the subjects according to each Sasang constitutions. Intake of nutrient was poor, regardless of Sasang constitutions, in both men and women.
Aged* ; Blood Pressure ; Body Weight ; Constitution and Bylaws* ; Fatty Liver ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Gastritis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Ideal Body Weight ; Incidence ; Life Expectancy ; Longevity ; Male

Scutellariae Radix (Scu.), one of the immune-regulatory substances, is recognized to play the role in the metabolic process of inflammation, allergy and immunity. It has been traditionally used in the Oriental medicine to treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of water extracts of Scutellariae Radix on the spleen lymphocyte immune function in the Balb/c female mice treated with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to induce colitis. Water extract of Scutellariae Radix (100 mg/kg) and sulfasalazine (50 mg/kg) were administrated orally for 2 weeks of experimental period. Mice were divided into three experimental groups randomly: DSS group (5% DSS was ad libitum for 5 days) as control group, DSS + Scu. (water extracts of Scutellariae Radix for 2 weeks after 5% DSS was ad libitum for 5 days) as experimental group, and DSS + Sulfasalazine group (Sulfasalazine for 2 weeks after 5% DSS was ad libitum for 5 days) as positive control group. Levels of Ig A, Ig E, CD4(+), CD8(+), TNF-alpha and other cytokines were measured. Treatment of DSS for 5 days induced bowel inflammation and the treatment with Scu. water exteract and sulfasalazine significantly recovered the damage. The length of intestine of DSS group was significantly shorter than that of other groups. The serum and fecal concentration of Ig A of SS + Scu group was higher than those of DSS group. The contents of CD4(+) T cells was higher in the DSS + Scu. group than the other groups and CD8(+) T cells was the lowest in DSS + Sulfasalazine group. The Ig A level of cultured supernatant of spleen lymphocyte was the highest, while the Ig E level was the lowest in SS + Scu group. The concentration of TNF-alpha, cytokine secreted from the Th1 cell in the supernatant spleen lymphocyte, was the highest in the DSS group and the lowest in the DSS + Scu. group. The concentration of IFN-gamma and lL-12 was lower in the DSS + Scu. group than those of the other groups. The concentration of IL-4 in the supernatant of spleen lymphocyte was the lowest in the DSS + Scu. group but IL-10 was not significantly different. Based on these findings, water extract of Scutellariae Radix exhibited the inhibitory effect via IL-4 production thereby inhibited the production of Ig E and strengthened immune system, and alleviated injury in DSS-induced colitis mice model.
Animals* ; Colitis ; Cytokines ; Dextrans ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immune System ; Inflammation ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-4 ; Intestines ; Lymphocytes ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Metabolism ; Mice ; Models, Animal* ; Scutellaria baicalensis* ; Scutellaria* ; Sodium ; Spleen ; Sulfasalazine ; T-Lymphocytes ; Th1 Cells ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Water*

This study was designed to analyze the dietetic practitioner's job in the over 600-ed hospitals in korea and to assess their labor time spent and staffing need indices. The actual time spent and expected labor time spent on dietitians' activities were investigated and the proper dietic staffing needs in the hospitals was also calculated. A job analysis questionnaires were developed and mailed to 20 hospitals. Completed questionnaires were received form 12 hospitals for a response rate of 60%. The followings are summary of the results. 1. The jobs dietitians at the hospitals were classified into the following 7 areas, direct patient care, indirect patient care, therapeutic patient care, education & counseling, meeting & research, delay & movement, and administration & food services. 2. The actual time spent on dietetic practice was 48.6 hours and expected labor time spent was 99.2 hours, Therefore, the proper time required to conduct classified jobs was 2.1 times higher than the time spent. Especially, the time required for performing clinical nutrition services including direct patient care, indirect patient care, therapeutic patient care was significantly higher than the time needed. 3. The average times required for the direct patient care was 1334.6min, for the indirect patient care was 796.3min, for the therapeutic patient care was 1634.5min, for the education & counseling was 265.2min, for the meeting & research was 366.7min, for the delay & movement was 327.3min, and for the administration & food services was 1170min. The staffing need indices was 12.3. As a conclusion, the standardized job descriptions for the dietitian to carry out their job at the hospital should be established. And the clinical dietitians as nutrition professionals have to be recruited to provide systematically hospitalized patients with medical nutrition therapy at each hospital.
Counseling ; Education ; Food Services ; Humans ; Job Description ; Korea ; Nutrition Therapy ; Nutritionists ; Patient Care ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the major public health problem. It has been reported that the prevalence of AD in children and adults are 10-20% and 1-3%, respectively. Westernization of food habits, urbanization, and environmental pollution are contributing factors toward the recent rise in prevalence. Excessive dietary restriction leads to chronic malnutrition in atopic dermatitis patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) on quality of diet and blood immune parameters in atopic dermatitis patients. The 19 atopic dermatitis patients (7 men and 12 women) admitted to K University Medical Center were studied. During the 12 weeks of intervention, the subjects were given MNT by a dietitian for 30-45 minutes every other week. MNT was comprised with general dietary therapy, intake of balanced meals, emphasis on n-3 fatty acid contents in foods, and food allergies. Anthropometric and dietary assessment and blood analysis were taken at baseline and after 12 weeks of MNT. After 12 weeks of MNT, the subjects' dietary qualities, including dietary diversity score (DDS), meal balance score (MBS) and dietary variety score (DVS) were significantly increased (p < 0.05). According to significantly increased intake of EPA and DHA, dietary n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio decreased to the recommended level for the atopic dermatitis patients (p < 0.05). These changes of dietary fatty acid consumption were reflected rythrocyte fatty acid composition. After 12 weeks of MNT, serum levels of IgE and IL-4 levels were significantly decreased, however, the levers of INF-gamma, WBC, lymphocyte and TLC were not changed. As a conclusion, the individualized MNT improved the quality of diet in atopic dermatitis patients thereby influenced RBC fatty acid composition and IgE and IL-4 levels.
Academic Medical Centers ; Adult ; Child ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Diet ; Environmental Pollution ; Food Habits ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Interleukin-4 ; Lymphocytes ; Male ; Malnutrition ; Meals ; Nutrition Therapy ; Plasma ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Urbanization

Both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson Disease (PD). The contribution of many environmental factors including dietary factor remains unproven. The purpose the study was to investigate the dietary habits, nutrient intake and dietary quality of Korean PD patients according to the duration of disease. PD patients were recruited from K and S university hospitals from May 2005 to January 2006. This study was carried out after approval by the Institute Review Board (IRB). British Brain Bank criteria was used to diagnose PD. The subjects were classified into 2 groups based on the duration of PD: < 25 months and > or = 25 months groups. General characteristics, anthropometric measurements, food habits and dietary intakes were investigated. The results of this study were as follows: 1) The mean age of < 25 months group (66.9 +/-8.0 yr) was significantly higher than that of > or = 25 months group (62.2 +/- 8.8 yr) (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found for academic background, occupation, living status and social activity, however, numbers of diseases, exercise and family history of PD were significantly different. 2) Anthropometric measurements were not different between the two groups. 3) The frequency of taking snacks was significantly higher in <25 months group and the amounts of alcohol consumption were significantly higher in > or = 25 months group. 4) Daily intakes of most nutrients were very low compared with DRI. 5) The MAR score was significantly lower in < 25 months group (p < 0.05;) however, the scores of DVS, DDS and DQI were not significantly different. As a conclusion an overall nutrient intake and dietary quality of the Parkinson's Disease patients need to be improved regardless of duration of the disease and a well-balanced diet should be emphasized.
Alcohol Drinking ; Brain ; Diet ; Food Habits ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Nutritional Status ; Occupations ; Parkinson Disease ; Snacks

Both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson Disease (PD). The contribution of many environmental factors including dietary factor remains unproven. The purpose the study was to investigate the dietary habits, nutrient intake and dietary quality of Korean PD patients according to the duration of disease. PD patients were recruited from K and S university hospitals from May 2005 to January 2006. This study was carried out after approval by the Institute Review Board (IRB). British Brain Bank criteria was used to diagnose PD. The subjects were classified into 2 groups based on the duration of PD: < 25 months and > or = 25 months groups. General characteristics, anthropometric measurements, food habits and dietary intakes were investigated. The results of this study were as follows: 1) The mean age of < 25 months group (66.9 +/-8.0 yr) was significantly higher than that of > or = 25 months group (62.2 +/- 8.8 yr) (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found for academic background, occupation, living status and social activity, however, numbers of diseases, exercise and family history of PD were significantly different. 2) Anthropometric measurements were not different between the two groups. 3) The frequency of taking snacks was significantly higher in <25 months group and the amounts of alcohol consumption were significantly higher in > or = 25 months group. 4) Daily intakes of most nutrients were very low compared with DRI. 5) The MAR score was significantly lower in < 25 months group (p < 0.05;) however, the scores of DVS, DDS and DQI were not significantly different. As a conclusion an overall nutrient intake and dietary quality of the Parkinson's Disease patients need to be improved regardless of duration of the disease and a well-balanced diet should be emphasized.
Alcohol Drinking ; Brain ; Diet ; Food Habits ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Nutritional Status ; Occupations ; Parkinson Disease ; Snacks