PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine factors associated with underweight and obesity in elementary school children in Korea. METHODS: Study participants included 4,895 children attending 59 elementary schools across Korea. Children were grouped into underweight [< 5% body mass index (BMI)-for-age], normal weight (5%-85% BMI-for-age), and overweight/obese (> or = 85% BMI-for age). The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, health status, and diet and exercise behavior of children, and environmental characteristics of schools. RESULTS: Twelve percent of the children were overweight or obese. The results showed that demographic (age and gender), health status (atopic dermatitis and poor subjective health), and the characteristics of diet and exercise (unbalanced diet and diet experiences) were associated with underweight (p < .05), while demographic (age and gender), health status (poor subjective health), behavioral characteristics (fast food consumption and diet experiences), and school environmental characteristics (rural area) were associated with overweight/obesity (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Programs and interventions to reduce underweight and overweight/obesity in Korean elementary schools must consider behavioral and environmental characteristics of children.
Age Factors ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Child ; Child Behavior/*psychology ; *Diet ; *Exercise ; *Feeding Behavior/psychology ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity/epidemiology/*psychology ; Republic of Korea ; Sex Factors ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Thinness/epidemiology/*psychology

Objective personality tests, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), might be more sensitive to reflect subclinical personality and be more state-dependent in an individual's lifetime, so they are good scales to predict the psychological distress regarding certain states. The aim of this study was to identify the specific pattern between body mass index (BMI) and psychological distress using the objective personality test. For this study, we investigated BMI and the Korean Military Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MPI). A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted with 19-yr-old examinees who were admitted to the Military Manpower Administration in Korea from February 2007 to January 2010. Of 1,088,107 examinees, we enrolled 771,408 subjects who were psychologically apparent healthy possible-military-service groups. Afterwards, we reviewed and analyzed directly measured BMI and MPI results. In terms of the validity scales, the faking-good subscale showed an inverted U-shaped association, and faking-bad and infrequency subscales showed a U-shaped association with BMI groups. In terms of the neurosis scales, all clinical subscales (anxiety, depression, somatization, and personality disorder) also showed a U-shaped association with BMI groups. For the psychopath scales, the schizophrenia subscale showed a U-shaped association, and the paranoia subscale showed a near-positive correlation with BMI. In conclusion, a specific U-shaped pattern was observed between BMI and the MPI in 19-yr-old men in Korea. Underweight and obesity are related to psychological distress, so supportive advice and education are needed to them.
Adult ; *Body Mass Index ; Causality ; Comorbidity ; Computer Simulation ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Men's Health ; Models, Biological ; Models, Psychological ; Multiphasic Screening/methods ; Obesity/*epidemiology/psychology ; Personality Inventory/*statistics & numerical data ; Prevalence ; Reproducibility of Results ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stress, Psychological/diagnosis/*epidemiology/*psychology ; Thinness/*epidemiology/psychology ; Young Adult