A Literature Review on the Public Program of Walking Promotion for Active Living / 農村醫學 地域保健

Objectives@#This study aimed to describe the current public programs for community walking in Korea and to discuss their challenges.Method: We identified the literature related to community walking including five laws, 22 white papers from government departments and 84 program reports from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. @*Results@#Korean law guarantees legal rights and validity to create safe, convenient and equitable environments for community walking. The government department, which has jurisdiction over legislation relating to community walking, has dominated community walking programs, and the role of public health department has been insufficient. Almost all sectors in the department of Seoul Metropolitan Government were involved in community walking programs. However, inter-sectoral cooperation system for community walking was insufficient. @*Conclusion@#It is necessary to revise the condolences of the National Health Promotion Act to establish the role and perspective of public health in community walking promotion. Institutional efforts should be made to expand the network structure between sectors of community walking programs by establishing an organizational, budget, and performance sharing system for inter-sectoral approach.

Recent Trend and Associated Factors of Harmful Alcohol Use Based on Age and Gender in Korea

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that the impact of social factors on harmful alcohol use between men and women may be different. We aimed to explore the gender-based difference in temporal trend and social risk factors associated with harmful alcohol use. METHODS: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2014) was used to explore the recent trend of harmful alcohol use in the general population. Among all current alcohol drinkers aged 20–64 years, the frequencies of harmful alcohol use in each age group, year of birth, marriage, income, education, and occupation were analyzed based on gender. RESULTS: A total of 34,478 people (14,544 men and 19,834 women) who reported drinking alcohol in the last month at the time of interview were included in the analysis. The proportion of harmful alcohol use in men decreased (P for trend = 0.002) during the study period, whereas significant change was not observed in women (P for trend = 0.173). The prevalence of harmful alcohol use was highest in men aged 35–49 years and women aged 20–34 years. For both men and women, lower level of education and service occupation were the common risk factors of harmful alcohol use. Additionally, low income was a risk factor of harmful alcohol use in women but not in men. Marriage increased the risk of harmful alcohol use in women but decreased in men. CONCLUSION: Public health interventions in reducing harmful alcohol use should consider the different high-risk groups between men and women.

Routine Screening and Consultation Facilitate Improvement of Metabolic Syndrome

This randomized controlled trial study aimed to investigate the effects of a lifestyle intervention on metabolic syndrome (MetS) among middle-aged Koreans. A total of 243 middle-aged Koreans with MetS were randomly assigned to either of 2 types of lifestyle intervention for MetS and followed for 12 months. Health examinations and interventions were implemented at 16 regional branch facilities of a Korean medical institution from 2010, following the NCEP-ATP III criteria and recommendations. Lifestyle intervention (LI) group (n = 137) participated in a 12-week multi-component intervention including individual counseling, group sessions, and self-help materials. Basic usual intervention (BI) group (n = 106) was provided with one-page health information sheet on MetS and MetS management at baseline. Prevalence of MetS and each of MetS components, except for low HDL-cholesterol, in both groups were significantly reduced and maintained after the intervention. Notably, prevalence of hypertension and abdominal obesity continued to improve during the follow-up period. Between-group differences in results were not found. Both interventions were effective when they were accompanied with repeated check-ups and notification of MetS status. It is recommended to design clear guidelines for the notification of MetS after MetS screening and to encourage checking MetS status periodically for effective MetS management (KCT 0000446).

Heath Promotion Priorities of Older Adults in a Rural Community

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the priorities of health promotion for older adults in the rural community. The study attempts to display demographic characteristics subjective health status and chronic diseases status of the older adults. METHODS: We surveyed 384 senior residents in a community via face-to-face interviews in their homes, who were selected by proportional random sampling. We analysed the frequency, multiple responses and chi2 by SPSS 12.0K. RESULTS: The mean of subjective health status was 54.04+/-21.69 with a maximum of 100. Our study found that the high priorities in health promotion for older adults were prevention and management of hypertension and diabetes, strengthening of joint and muscles, cancer screening and physical exercise. Prevention of depression and social activities were low priorities. Strengthening of joints and muscles was a high priority among women while smoking cessation and social activities were high priorities of men. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, health promotion priorities of older adults differed by gender and subjective health status. Disease-related priorities received more attention than psycho-social health priorities. This study suggests comparing the priorities regionally and nationally.