The Prevalence of Childhood Obesity, Risk Factors, and Obesity Related Disease in Elementary Students

BACKGROUND: Recently, childhood obesity has been increased and has resulted in serious health problems. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of childhood obesity and its risk factors in elementary students. METHODS: One thousand nine hundred and eleven children were selected from an elementary school in Seoul. We measured children's height, weight, waist to hip ratio, and the obesity rate (%). The risk factors associated with childhood obesity were assessed by a self-written questionnaire answered by their parents. In moderate and severe obese children, we checked their blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, ALT, AST, uric acid, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. RESULTS: The prevalence of childhood obesity was 14.0%. We found that the factors associated with childhood obesity were the number of siblings, class, parent's obesity, and the preference for fish and meat (P=0.030, 0.022, <0.001, 0.003, respectively). In moderate and severe obese children, the prevalence of obesity related diseases was 77.6% and 92.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The childhood obesity was strongly associated with parent's obesity and the preference for fish and meat. The prevalence of obesity related diseases was very high in moderate and severe obese children.

The Reliability and Validity of Korean Version of Questionnaire for Nicotine Dependence

BACKGROUND: Although the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ) and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), which are the tools to measure Nicotine Dependence, have a high internal reliability and a high test-retest reliability, they have not been tested domestically. A Korean-Version Questionnaire for Nicotine Dependence was assessed to find out the internal reliability, test-retest reliability and validity. METHODS: The research subjects were adult smokers of ages between 19 and 77 among hospital visitors, hospital staffs, inpatients and outpatients. The smokers had their carbon monoxide measured after responding to the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of Nicotine Dependence (FTQ & FTND), the history of smoking, the variables related to Nicotine Dependence, and factors that influence carbon monoxide(CO) measurement. Micro II smokerlyzer (Bedfont Instruments Ltd, England) was used to analyze CO concentration in expired air. The method used for measuring CO concentration was to deeply inhale and hold one's breath for 15 seconds and measure CO concentration while exhaling. RESULTS: The total number of subjects was 205 (199 males, 6 females) consisting of 124 hospital visitors, 67 hospital staff, 8 inpatients, and 6 inpatients. The average FTQ was 4.68 and the average FTND was 3.95. Cronbach's alpha, which indicates the internal reliability, was 0.6679 for FTQ and 0.6913 for FTND. The correlation coefficient which indicates test-retest reliability was 0.783 for FTQ and 0.880 for FTND. The correlation coefficient which indicates the relationship between the level of Nicotine Dependence and expired air CO concentration was 0.484 for FTQ and 0.563 for FTND. The correlation coefficient of the smoking period was 0.247 for FTQ and 0.252 for FTND. CONCLUSION: This Korean-Version Questionnaires for Nicotine Dependence (FTQ & FTND) were both satisfactory from the aspects of reliability and validity. It was concluded that the Korean-Version of FTND was a reliable method to reflect the level of nicotine dependence of smokers from the fact that the reliability and validity of FTND was higher than that of FTQ.