Association between Obesity and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status in Korean Adolescents Based on the 2013 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: An increase in the obese adolescent population is being recognized as a serious medical and social problem. The present study aimed to examine the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity in Korean adolescents based on total available resources and local social inequality models. METHODS: The present study used data from the 2013 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in analyzing 72,438 Korean adolescents aged 12-18. The analysis investigated obesity odds ratio (OR) according to neighborhood SES adjusted for age and individual SES indices, which included family affluence scale (FAS), education level of parents, cohabitation with parents, and weekly allowance. Obesity OR was investigated according to neighborhood SES by FAS, and according to FAS by neighborhood SES. RESULTS: After adjusting for age and individual SES variables, there was no significant association between neighborhood SES and adolescent obesity for either boys or girls. However, girls in the high FAS group showed a pattern of lower neighborhood SES being associated with a significant increase in risk of obesity; in the high neighborhood SES group, boys showed a pattern of higher FAS being associated with a significant increase in risk of obesity, whereas girls show a pattern of decrease. CONCLUSION: Although limited, the present study demonstrated that some girl groups exhibited a pattern of lower neighborhood SES being associated with an increase in risk of obesity, as well as a gender-based difference in risk of obesity by individual SES. Therefore, measures to prevent adolescent obesity should be established with consideration for differences in risk according to individual and neighborhood SES.

The Relationship between Body Fat Percent and Bone Mineral Density in Korean Adolescents: The Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V-1), 2010 / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: The relationships of total and regional body fat percent with bone mineral density (BMD) in Korean adolescents were examined using the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V-1), 2010. METHODS: Body fat percent at whole body (WBFP), trunk (TBFP), and extremities (both upper and lower extremities fat mass/body weight, EBFP), ratio of trunk fat mass to extremities fat mass (TEFR), and BMD at whole body, total femur, and lumbar spine were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in a population-based sample of 433 boys and 362 girls, aged 12 to 18 years. The analyses were conducted using linear regression analysis with complex sampling design. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounders such as age, height, weight, serum 25-(OH) vitamin D concentration, energy intake, calcium intake, physical activity, and menarche status for girls, WBFP, TBFP, and EBFP were inversely associated with whole and regional BMD in both sexes (P < 0.05). TEFR was positively associated with whole and regional BMD in boys after adjusting for confounders, while it was negatively associated in girls (P < 0.05). However, the associations were non-significant when bone mass-free lean mass was adjusted instead of bodyweight except for a positive association between TEFR and BMD in boys. CONCLUSION: In Korean adolescents, total and regional body fat percent is not independently associated with BMD after adjusting for bone mass-free lean mass but higher fat in trunk as compared to extremities may be protective for BMD in boys.