Whole blood and Plasma Vitamin C Concentrations of Elementary School Children in Chinju

PURPOSE: Recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C was determined on the basis of preventing the scurvy without considerations of the important function of the vitamin C as a first line antioxidant. So we measured the whole blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations of the contemporay healthy elementary school children in Chinju for the establishment of the optimal daily vitamin C requirment in the elementary school children. METHODS: Whole blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations were measured by the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine method in 338 children from the 1st to the 6th grade of one elementary school in Chinju. RESULTS: Whole blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations were 1.36+/-0.34mg/dL and 1.07+/-0.33mg/dL respectively. There existed an close relationship between whole blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations (r=0.77, p=0.0001). Whole blood vitamin C concentration decreased as the age became older (r=-0.22 p=0.0001), but plasma vitamin C concentration did not change. There were no sex differences in the whole blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations except in the 3rd grade (p<0.05). Twenty-three of 338 elementary school children (6.8%) had the plasma vitamin C concentration less than 0.6mg/dL. CONCLUSIONS: We produced the blood and plasma vitamin C concentrations of the contemporay elementary school children in Chinju. These values were not satisfactory in consideration of the importance of the childhood health.

A study on the infant feeding methods

In this study, I made researches of 510 mothers who breed their infants in total (256 boys & 254 girls), among which 410 in urban area and 100 in the rural area, as an object of the investigation so as to make an intensive examination and analysis of the actual state of feeding nutritive method, grasp several related factors, and finally suggest the elementary data for both campaign encouraging breast feeding and the infant feeding education. 1. Mothers showed the meaningful local differences as in an education and income level at 1% and as in a delivery type at 5%. 2. To have decided the feeding conditions according to the residences by the Kaup index distribution (P<0.05) resulted in a meaningful difference according to regions and also made us be more thoughtful of the overnutrition in the urban area than in the rural area, and it didn't showed a meaningful difference the nutritive state according to the infant feeding method thought desirable (P<0.01). 3. The feeding methods consist of breast feeding at 21.8%, artificial feeding at 48.8%, and the mixed one at 29.4%. As for the feeding method thought desirable, breast feeding was 52%. Even though they were thinking that breast feeding is better, the breast feeding case didn't go beyond 32.5% only and as for the actual feeding methods it showed a meaningful difference according to the feeding method thought desirable (P<0.01). 4. Regarding the reasons why they chose breast milk, it was 64%, the most because mother's milk contains the immune system, 63.1% for the baby's health, 52.3% because of its most because breast milk is of little quantity, 37.8% because of the mother's occupation, 14.1% because they have fed the baby artificially from the beginning and so on. Considering the reasons why they chose the mixed feeding, it was 70.7%, the most because the amount of breast milk a little, 27.3%, the next one, because of the mother's occupation and so on. 5. The respondents who answered that how to increase the number of breast feeding population depends on the reinforcement of breast feeding education for the women were 190 (37.3%), the most among all 150 persons and those who had the opinion that they should spread and actualize the temporary childcare rest (from office) system for the women who have jobs were the secondly most, 107 (21%).