BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to examine the participation rate in food assistance programs and explore the factors that contribute to such participation among the Korean elderly population. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study sample comprised 3,932 respondents aged 65 years or older who were selected from a secondary data set, the fourth Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS). The factors, related to participation in programs were examined based on the predisposing, enabling and need factors of the help-seeking behavior model. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to select the best contributors among the factors related to program participation. RESULTS: The predisposing rate in food assistance programs was 8.5% (7.1% for men and 10.4% for women). When all variables were included in the model, living without spouse, no formal education, low income, having social security benefits and food insecurity in elderly men, and age, low income, having social security benefits and feeling poor in elderly women were significantly related to a higher tendency to program participation. CONCLUSIONS: The predisposing and need factors, such as living without spouse, low education level, food insecurity and feeling poor were important for program participation, as well as enabling factors, such as household income and social security benefits. A comprehensive approach considering these factors to identify the target population for food assistance programs is needed to increase the effectiveness and target population penetration of these programs.
Aged* ; Causality ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Dataset ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Food Assistance* ; Food Supply ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Social Security ; Spouses

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Low consumption of fruit and vegetable is frequently viewed as an important contributor to obesity risk. With increasing childhood obesity and relatively low fruit and vegetable consumption among Thai children, there is a need to identify the determinants of the intake to promote fruit and vegetable consumption effectively. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two conveniently selected primary schools in Nakhon Pathom. A total of 609 students (grade 4-6) completed questionnaires on personal and environmental factors. Adequate fruit and vegetable intakes were defined as a minimum of three servings of fruit or vegetable daily, and adequate total intake as at least 6 serves of fruit and vegetable daily. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of children with a sufficient fruit and/or vegetable intakes was low. Covariates of child's personal and environmental factors showed significant associations with sufficient intakes of fruit and/or vegetable (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analyses showed that the following factors were positively related to sufficient intake of vegetable; lower grade, a positive attitude toward vegetable, and fruit availability at home; and that greater maternal education, a positive child's attitude toward vegetable, and fruit availability at home were significantly associated with sufficient consumption of fruits and total fruit and vegetable intake. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that personal factors like attitude toward vegetables and socio-environmental factors, such as, greater availability of fruits were significantly associated with sufficient fruit and vegetable consumption. The importance of environmental and personal factors to successful nutrition highlights the importance of involving parents and schools.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Fruit* ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Obesity ; Parents ; Pediatric Obesity ; Prevalence* ; Self Efficacy ; Thailand* ; Vegetables*

TO know the causative agent of asptic meningitis. we performed and cerebrospinal fluid study on 24 children who had been admitted to the department of Pediatrics.. Asam Medical Center form Jume. 1991 to July 1991. In the 10 cases of them. CSF virus culture was done Special Reference Laboratory, Japan The most of the patients were young infants, and 15 cases of them were under 3 months of age. The male to female ratio was 1:1.4 We observed the main symptoms as fever 100%. irritability 67%, vomiting 17%. poor feeding 13%, seizure 8%. In the 4 cases among the 10 cases with virus culture, Coxsackievirus B5 was cultured. We concluded that the causative agent of this epidemic aseptic meningitis in 1991 was Coxsakievirus B5.
Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Child ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Infant ; Japan ; Male ; Meningitis ; Meningitis, Aseptic* ; Pediatrics ; Seizures ; Vomiting

This paper was carried out to investigate the change of food consumption behavior of 733 undergraduate students due to the Korean Economic Crisis in 1997. After the economic crisis, undergraduate students in Ulsan statistically and significantly reduced the intake frequency of almost all foods except rice, kimchi, the Korean tea and the frequency of fast food restaurants used compared with before the economic crisis. The results show that the Korean economic crisis significantly effected the food consumption and restaurant use behavior of the undergraduates in Ulsan.
Fast Foods ; Humans ; Restaurants ; Tea ; Ulsan

The changes of higher-order aberrations (HOAs) after bilateral lateral rectus muscle recession were evaluated. Forty eyes of 20 children were enrolled and their wavefront information was assessed until postoperative 3 months. Even though the root mean square (RMS) of total aberration was not changed, the RMS of HOA was transiently increased at postoperative 1 week and returned to baseline level after 1 month. Among individual Zernike coefficient, secondary astigmatism, quadrafoil, secondary coma, secondary trefoil, and pentafoil showed similar tendency with the RMS of HOA. However, coma, trefoil, and spherical aberration were not changed. Regarding recession amount, it did not correlate with any Zernike coefficient. In summary, our data imply that the HOAs are transiently increased after lateral rectus recession surgery. These results are in collusion with previous reports that strabismus surgery induced transient corneal astigmatism.
Adolescent ; Astigmatism/*etiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Exotropia/*surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Postoperative Care ; *Postoperative Complications/epidemiology/pathology ; Vision Tests

Recently, cases with typical clinical manifestations of infectious mononucleosis are increasing in Korea. So, to evaluate the recent epidemiology of EBV infection in Korea, we performed EBV serologic antibody tests for IgG antibody to EBV-viral capsid antigen (VCA) and antibody to EBV-associated nuclear antigen (EBNA) among the 108 healthy Korean infants and children whose ages were from newborn to 15 years old. And the results were as follows; 1) The positive rates of anti-VCA IgG 100% in newborn, 90% in 2 to 6 months, 20% in 7 to 12 months, 60% in 1 to 2 years, 77.3% in 3 to 4 years, 88.5% in 5 to 6 years, 90% in 7 to 9 years, and 100% in 10 to 15 years of age, respectively. 2) The anti-VCA IgG titers ranged from 1:20 to 1:1280. 3) The positive rates of anti-EBNA were 100% in newborn, 60% in 2 6 months, 10% in 7 to 12 months, 60% in 1 to 2 years, 68.2% in 3 to 4 years, 84.5% in 5 to 6 years, 70% in 7 to 9 years, and 100% in 10 to 15 years of age, respectively. 4) The anti-EBNA titers ranged from 1:2 to 1:128. According to these data, the age of primary infection of EBV has increased compared to the previous data in Korean children.
Adolescent ; Capsid ; Child* ; Epidemiology ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infectious Mononucleosis ; Korea ; Prevalence*

PURPOSE: To determine whether the prophylactic treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin(rHuEPO) for the anemia of prematurity would reduce the need for blood transfusions. METHODS: We randomly assigned 17 premature infants to the rHuEPO group and the control group. For the rHuEPO group (n=9, birth weight=1210+/-156 g, gestational age=31.7+/-1.9 wk), rHuEPO (400 U/kg) was given three times a week for 4 weeks, plus iron (8 mg/kg/day) and vitamin E (25 IU/day). The same amount of vitamin E was only given for the control group (n=8, birth weight=1266+/-204 g, gestational age=30.0+/-1.9 wk). RESULTS: Reticulocyte counts and hematocrit values were higher in the rHuEPO group than the control group at the 4 week of study (10.0+/-1.5 % vs. 5.5+/-2.1 % : p<0.05 and 25.6+/-4.0 % vs.31.0+/-1.5 % : p<0.05). Also, hemoglobin F were higher in the rHuEPO group than the control group at the 4 week of study (76.2+/-8.1 % vs.27.2+/-33.3 % : p<0.05). The rHuEPO treatment group required fewer blood transfusions during the study period (1.25 vs. 0.11 : p<0.05). And the complications such as leukopenia, thrombocytosis and infection did not develop during the study period. There was no evidence of iron deficiency state in the both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The rHuEPO treatment, in combination with iron supplementation, prevented the anemia of prematurity and reduced the need for blood transfusion in the premature infants.
Anemia* ; Blood Transfusion ; Erythropoietin* ; Fetal Hemoglobin ; Hematocrit ; Humans* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature* ; Iron ; Leukopenia ; Parturition ; Reticulocyte Count ; Thrombocytosis ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins

PURPOSE: Serum alkaline phosphatase (sALP) levels show great variation with age and sex in children and adolescents. We aimed to study pediatric age- and sex-specific reference ranges for sALP and how the pattern changed according to age . METHODS: Cross-sectional results from 1366 healthy Korean children and adolescents (10-19.9 years) from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. We constructed age- and sex-specific reference data for sALP with a Hitachi Automatic Analyzer 7600 using Pureauto S ALP. We assessed its peak both in relation to age. RESULTS: Reference values for sALP according to age were constructed. Peak sALP levels were found at 12-13 years in boys (P < 0.001). Total sALP levels decreased to the adult level at the age of 17 in boys and 15 in girls, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study provides reference values for sALP by age for Korean children and adolescents. This normative data that includes upper and lower limits will provide a basis from which to better evaluate sALP levels, especially for bone disorders such as rickets and vitamin D deficiency. However, caution should be made in interpreting sALP levels because different buffers might lead to different values in the same serum.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Buffers ; Child ; Humans ; Nutrition Surveys ; Reference Values ; Rickets ; Sex Characteristics ; Vitamin D Deficiency

BACKGROUND: Many studies have attempted to develop relatively simple and easy noninvasive measurements of atherosclerosis (NIMA), and each NIMA assesses different atherosclerotic properties. We, therefore, investigated the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and different NIMAs. METHODS: This study included 1,132 Korean subjects over 20 years of age who had visited a Health Promotion Center in Korea. Carotid injury (increased carotid intima-media thickness or plaques) was evaluated by ultrasonography and arterial stiffness by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity. The MetS components were assessed according to the Asian criteria of the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. RESULTS: Both arterial stiffness and carotid injury gradually deteriorated with increase in the number of MetS components. Arterial stiffness and carotid injury were associated with different MetS components, each of which had varying impact. After adjustment for all possible confounders such as age, sex, and lifestyle, elevated blood pressure (BP) was found to have the strongest association with arterial stiffness, whereas central obesity, impaired fasting plasma glucose, and elevated BP had comparable connection with carotid atherosclerosis. CONCLUSION: Individual MetS components were related with subclinical atherosclerosis in different ways. Elevated BP showed the strongest association with arterial stiffness, while central obesity, impaired fasting plasma glucose, and elevated BP showed good correlation with carotid atherosclerosis.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Atherosclerosis ; Blood Pressure ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; Carotid Artery Injuries ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Health Promotion ; Heart ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Lung ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Plasma ; Pulse Wave Analysis ; Vascular Stiffness

We investigated whether socioeconomic differences affect fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption with respect to total intake and intake of various FV subgroups. Our study included 6667 adults aged 40-64 years who completed a dietary survey in the fourth Korean NHANES (2007-2009). FV intake was estimated from 24-hour recalls and food frequency questionnaires. Differences in FV consumption related to educational attainment were analyzed according to different nutritional categories of FV. Both men and women in the low-education group had the lowest intake of total FV and total fruits, and women also had the lowest intake of total vegetables. Also lowest in this group was consumption of mushrooms and vegetables (excluding kimchi) among men, and cruciferous and allium vegetables (excluding Chinese cabbage and radish) among women, while kimchi consumption was the highest in this group. Additionally, an association between educational level and intake of citrus fruits was evident among men. Adults in the low-education group consumed less carotene-rich FV, red fruit and/or vegetables, and dark-green leafy vegetables, fewer total vegetable dishes, and fewer types of fruit than in other groups. Men in this group had the lowest intake of yellow/orange fruit and/or vegetables, and women consumed the least folate-rich FV. There is a clear association between educational attainment and FV intake with regard to total intake, and to specific nutrients, bioactive compounds, colors, and variety.
Adult ; Agaricales ; Aged ; Allium ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brassica ; Citrus ; Female ; Fruit ; Humans ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vegetables