BACKGROUND: This study was performed to investigate the effects of Maté extract on body weight and fat content in obese women [25.0 kg/m² ≤body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m²] aged 20-65 years after 6 weeks of its administration. METHODS: The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 33 women. Participants took the supplement, either 2 Maté tablets or 2 placebo tablets, twice daily before meals for 6 weeks. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and various safety parameters were monitored. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline and after 6 weeks.
Abdominal Fat ; Absorptiometry, Photon ; Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Female ; Humans ; Meals ; Nausea ; Reference Values ; Tablets ; Waist Circumference

Acute mountain sickness is an illness caused by climbing to a high altitude without prior acclimatization. Neurological consequences, like parkinsonism following acute mountain sickness without lesion of brain MRI have been reported rarely. A healthy 56-year-old man presented with dysarthria and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed tremor of hands, limb rigidity, and bradykinesia. The symptoms developed approximately 30 days following a 3,500 m climb of the Annapurna in the Himalayas. Brain MRI did not reveal any abnormalities including globus pallidus. The parkinsonism symptoms persisted for about 3 months before a complete recovered was made. We suggest that parkinsonism can develop after climbing to a high altitude but that the symptoms can be transient if a brain MRI detects no abnormalities.

OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological studies in other countries show that a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) increases the risk of depression or suicidality. However, no studies have investigated the associations of suicidality with omega-3 FAs in Korea. Hence, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the effects of omega FAs on suicidality in the general South Korean population. METHODS: The data in this study were sourced from adults (n=215,860) who completed the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI), and the associations between omega FAs and suicidality were analyzed using multivariate logistic regressions. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that high omega-3 FA intake was associated with a decreased risk of suicide (OR=0.83, 95% CI : 0.71–0.98) and the high omega-6 to omega-3 FA ratio was associated with an increased risk of suicide (OR=1.25, 95% CI : 1.02–1.54). Additionally, a high intake of omega-3 FAs was associated with a decreased risk of suicide in men, but not in women (OR=0.72, 95% CI : 0.59–0.88). CONCLUSIONS Overall, our findings suggest that a lower intake of omega-3 FA is associated with the increased risk of suicidality in the general Korean population, especially in men.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated whether a mobile health (mHealth) application can instigate healthy behavioral changes and improvements in metabolic disorders in individuals with metabolic abnormalities. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Participants were divided into an mHealth intervention group (IG), which used a mobile app for 24 weeks, and a conventional IG. All mobile apps featured activity monitors, with blood pressure and glucose monitors, and body-composition measuring devices. The two groups were compared after 24 weeks in terms of health-behavior practice rate and changes in the proportion of people with health risks, and health behaviors performed by the IG that contributed to reductions in more than one health risk factor were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Preference for low-sodium diet, reading nutritional facts, having breakfast, and performing moderate physical activity significantly increased in the mHealth IG. Furthermore, the mHealth IG showed a significant increase of eight items in the mini-dietary assessment; particularly, the items “I eat at least two types of vegetables of various colors at every meal” and “I consume dairies, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese, every day.” The proportion of people with health risks, with the exception of fasting glucose, significantly decreased in the mHealth IG, while only the proportion of people with at-risk triglycerides and waist circumference of females significantly decreased in the control group. Finally, compared to those who did not show improvements of health risks, those who showed improvements of health risks in the mHealth IG had an odds ratio of 1.61 for moderate to vigorous physical activity, 1.65 for “I do not add more salt or soy sauce in my food,” and 1.77 for “I remove fat in my meat before eating.” CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the additional use of a community-based mHealth service through a mobile application is effective for improving health behaviors and lowering metabolic risks in Koreans.
Blood Pressure ; Breakfast ; Cheese ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diet ; Diet, Sodium-Restricted ; Disease Management ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Meat ; Milk ; Mobile Applications ; Motor Activity ; Odds Ratio ; Public Health ; Risk Factors ; Smartphone ; Soy Foods ; Telemedicine ; Triglycerides ; Vegetables ; Waist Circumference ; Yogurt

BACKGROUND: Recently, it has been reported that gamma-glumyltransferase (GGT) is associated with various cardiovascular risk factors including overweight in adults. However, there are few studies on the relationship between GGT and cardiovascular risk factors in children. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between serum GGT level and overweight in Korean urban children. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional study using data on 390 4th grade students of elementary schools in Gunpo, Korea. Children were divided into 4 groups according to gender-specific quartiles of serum GGT level. Body mass index, waist circumference and body fat percentage were quantified as adiposity indices. RESULTS: All adiposity indices in children of the highest GGT level quartile were higher than those in children of the lowest quartile. Adjusted odd ratios on overweight of the highest quartile of GGT level compared to the lowest quartile were 14.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.43 to 46.83) in boys and 2.94 (95% CI, 1.06 to 8.16) in girls. CONCLUSION: This study shows that high serum GGT level is related with overweight in Korean urban children and this relationship is stronger in boys compared to girls.
Adipose Tissue ; Adiposity ; Adult ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Humans ; Korea ; Overweight ; Oxidative Stress ; Risk Factors ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUND: Obesity not only does increase the incidence of breast cancer, but also affects the course of treatment, recurrence and mortality. This study aims to evaluate on the obesity status of Korean breast cancer survivors and their obesity-related lifestyles. METHODS: The study included 125 Korean female breast cancer survivors aged over 19 year old enrolled in the 2009-11 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Women who answered 'yes' to the question 'have you ever been diagnosed breast cancer by a physician?' was defined as a breast cancer survivors. Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured and Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Body fat percent was assessed by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Standardized surveys by trained interviewers were used to investigate survivors' obesity-related lifestyles such as physical activities, sleeping hours and nutrients intake. RESULTS: 48.4% of Korean breast cancer survivors were obese. 44.7% had abdominal obesity and 89.2% had body fat percent over 30. Their physical activity level was generally low; only 22.5% maintained health-enhancing level of physical activities. Fat intake (14.4 [0.8] %) was as low and carbohydrate intake (74.2 [1.2] %) was high. However, daily dietary fiber intake was low (10.5 [1.1] g). Factors that were found to be significantly related with obesity in Korean breast cancer survivors were low education level (P=0.042), smoking (P<0.001), having chronic diseases (P=0.002) and short sleeping hours (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It is mandatory for physician to evaluate obesity status of breast cancer survivors as soon as their diagnosis and give proper intervention to maintain healthy weight and healthy obesity related lifestyle.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Adipose Tissue ; Body Mass Index ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Chronic Disease ; Diagnosis ; Dietary Fiber ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Life Style* ; Metabolic Equivalent ; Mortality ; Motor Activity ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity* ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Recurrence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Survivors* ; Waist Circumference

BACKGROUND: There is high interest in a new approach to improve children's lifestyle habits in order to prevent childhood obesity. A smartphone application (app) is a new technology platform that can be used to prevent childhood obesity. METHODS: The key messages for healthy eating habits and physical activities were selected by experts in nutrition, physical activity, and psychology and were adjusted for use in elementary school students. Gamification techniques were used to increase app user engagement. A total of 249 students in grades 4-6 were asked to rate their satisfaction for the app after 4 weeks of use. RESULTS: The main menu of "HAPPY ME" was composed of user profile, "EVERYDAY QUEST," exercise diary, diet diary, settings, and notifications. The app users were asked to complete 6-9 daily missions regarding healthy eating habits and physical activities through "EVERYDAY QUEST." The mean satisfaction scores for each variable were distributed from 3.6 to 4.0 points, and most of the students responded that they would continue to use the app (4.0 points). CONCLUSION: We developed a smartphone app (HAPPY ME) for 4th-6th grade elementary students aimed to provide educational information about healthy eating habits and physical activities in order to prevent childhood.
Child ; Diet ; Eating ; Humans ; Life Style ; Motor Activity ; Pediatric Obesity ; Psychology ; Religious Missions ; Smartphone

Background: Predicting the risk of osteoporotic fractures is vital for prevention. Traditional methods such as the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) model use clinical factors. This study examined the predictive power of the FRAX score and machine-learning algorithms trained on FRAX parameters. Methods: We analyzed the data of 2,147 female participants from the Ansan cohort study. The FRAX parameters employed in this study included age, sex (female), height and weight, current smoking status, excessive alcohol consumption (>3 units/d of alcohol), and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporotic fracture was defined as one or more fractures of the hip, spine, or wrist during a 10-year observation period. Machine-learning algorithms, such as gradient boosting, random forest, decision tree, and logistic regression, were employed to predict osteoporotic fractures with a 70:30 training-to-test set ratio. We evaluated the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) scores to assess and compare the performance of these algorithms with the FRAX score. Results: Of the 2,147 participants, 3.5% experienced osteoporotic fractures. Those with fractures were older, shorter in height, and had a higher prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as higher FRAX scores. The AUROC for the FRAX was 0.617. The machine-learning algorithms showed AUROC values of 0.662, 0.652, 0.648, and 0.637 for gradient boosting, logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest, respectively. Conclusion This study highlighted the immense potential of machine-learning algorithms to improve osteoporotic fracture risk prediction in women when complete FRAX parameter information is unavailable.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent smoking is positively related to weight control attempts, especially by unhealthy methods. The co-occurrence of smoking and unhealthy weight control behaviors may cause serious health problems in adolescents. This study examined the relationship of smoking with unhealthy weight control behaviors among Korean adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 31,090 students of grades 7 to 12, who had tried to reduce or maintain their weight during the 30 days prior to The Tenth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, 2014. Data on height, weight, weight control methods, smoking, alcohol intake, living with one's family, and perceived economic status were obtained through self-report questionnaires. ‘Unhealthy weight control behaviors’ were subcategorized into ‘extreme weight control behaviors’ and ‘less extreme weight control behaviors.’ RESULTS: The smoking rates were 13.3%±0.4% in boys and 3.8%±0.2% in girls. Current smokers were more likely to engage in extreme weight control behaviors (odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 2.00 in boys, and OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.59 to 2.65 in girls) and less extreme weight control behaviors (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.40 in boys, and OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.22 to 1.76 in girls) compared to non-smokers among both boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Current smoking is independently related to a high likelihood of engaging in unhealthy weight control behaviors among Korean adolescents. This relationship is stronger for girls than for boys. Extreme weight control behaviors have a stronger relationship with current smoking than less extreme weight control behaviors.
Adolescent* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea* ; Problem Behavior ; Risk-Taking* ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Weight Loss

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use in Korean children and adolescents and to examine the related factors associated with DS use from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Total 6,131 participants aged between 2 and 18 yr were included in the analysis. We estimated the prevalence of DS use mainly from the DS questionnaire data of the Nutrition Survey. Reported supplements were classified according to the Health Functional Food Code. We also assessed the relationship between DS use and anthropometry, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and chronic diseases. Approximately 34% of Korean children and adolescent was taking DS. Younger age (P = 0.003), higher household income (P < 0.001), presence of chronic diseases (P = 0.05), regular meal consumption (P = 0.002), frequent snack consumption (P = 0.001), and normal body mass index rather than overweight (P = 0.10) or obesity (P = 0.03) were associated with the DS use after adjustment for related factors. Vitamin/mineral supplements (343.5/103 persons) were the most commonly taken DS in Korean children and adolescents, followed by Omega-3 (28.8), ginseng (18.3), colostrums (14.1) and chlorella/spirulina (10.0). In conclusion, DS use is common as much as in 34% of Korean children and adolescents and is associated with age, household income level, chronic diseases, meal regularity, and obesity status.
Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Chronic Disease ; *Dietary Supplements ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; *Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity/epidemiology ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Socioeconomic Factors