Status of Maternal Nutrition in South and North Korea / 대한지역사회영양학회지

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the nutritional status of child-bearing age women between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). METHODS: The data presented in the DPRK Final Report of the National Nutrition Survey 2012 was utilized for the nutritional status and food intake of North Korean women. To produce the South Korean women's data comparable to those of North Korean women, the data from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey were analyzed and the data presented in the 2010 Report of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards were utilized. RESULTS: The prevalence of maternal anemia (blood hemoglobin < 12.0 g/dL) was over 30% in all the age groups of North Korean women and 8.9%, 14.2%, 16.4% in 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 year old South Korean women, respectively. The prevalence of maternal protein-energy malnutrition (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference < 22.5 cm) was 25.2%, 21.4%, 21.8% in 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 year old North Korean women, respectively and less than 10% in all the age groups of South Korean women. Result of dietary diversity comparison showed that North Korean women consumed less food than South Korean women at all food groups: grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. Percentage of North Korean women having consumed protein rich foods-meat and fish, eggs or dairy products-were much lower than those of South Korean women. CONCLUSIONS: The striking disparity of nutritional status between South and North Korean women indicates that nutrition support for North Korean women is essential in the process of preparation for a unified nation.

A case-control study on the risk factors of female infertility / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective Understanding the risk factors of female infertility among child-bearing aged women, in Nanchang area. Methods A hospital-based matched case-control study was carried out in Nanchang. Matched by age ( ±2 years old) , 383 pairs of cases and controls were recruited and studied. Database was established with EpiData 3.0 software. Both cases and controls were interviewed face to face, with a uniformed questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis on SPSS 11.5 to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Data from multiple conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of infertility would include pelvic inflammatory diseases (0R=7.078, 95% Ch 3.462-14.467),post-abortion complications' history(0R=3.674, 95% CI: 1.690-7.986), drug treatment history (0R=23.576, 95% Ch 12.324-45.102), dysmenorrhea (0R=1.622, 95% CI: 1.161-2.266), pain from sexual intercourse (0R=2.447, 95% CI: 1.201-4.986), monthly frequency of sexual intercourse (0R=1.416,95% CI: 1.048-1.913)and mental stress (0R=2.146, 95% CI: 1.662-2.771). The protective factor of infertility, however, was level ofeducation(0R=0.522,95%Cl:0.391-0.696). Conclusion Prevention and treatment of pelvic infection, application of strictly controlled drugs, popularization of awareness on sexual and reproductive health and relief of mental stress would be important measures in decreasing the incidence of infertility.

Evaluation of Public Health Nutrition Education Program for High School Girls

Impact and process evaluations were performed in order to verify the effectiveness of a public health nutrition program developed for child-bearing aged women in Korea. Participants included 58 high school girls who were divided into two groups. Each group received four 50 - 60 minute nutrition education lectures regarding healthy eating, osteoporosis, constipation and nutrition labeling in every two weeks. Each session took 50 - 60 minutes. Regarding nutrition knowledge, there was a significant increase of degree of perception (p = 0.0004), but no change in degree of accuracy after implementation (p = 0.9522). Nutrition education was also effective in attitude change, showing more participants were ready to change their eating behaviors in terms of meal regularity (p = 0.0455) and less processed food intake (p = 0.0143). After implementing nutrition education, effective behavioral changes were observed in milk consumption (p = 0.0037) and meal regularity (p = 0.0882) as well as daily activity such as stair use (p = 0.0701). However, nutrition education had no effect on body mass index and perceived health status. In process evaluation conducted by a 9 item questionnaire, grand mean score was 4.17 +/- 0.72 out of 5. Proportion of items with scores higher than 4 ranged 68-91%. These results suggest that the nutrition education program used in this study was effective and useful. For a wider use of this program, more research was recommend for a strategy development of program diffuse.

Analyses on the Factors Related to Stages of Dietary Behavioral Changes among Child Bearing Aged Women

This study examined the factors related to stages of dietary behavioral changes among 1449 child bearing aged women (mean age +/- SD = 25.6 +/- 5.3 years) residing in large cities. A self administered questionnaire was used to assess stages of dietary behavioral change, meal balance and regularity, food availability, nutrition knowledge, body mass index, nutrient intake, and psycho-social factors including self efficacy, perceived benefits and barriers, social modeling. Undesirable dietary behaviors (precontemplation and contemplation) were shown among 45.1-57.4% of the participants, among those, 33.4-43.0% were precontemplators. Participants'' self efficacy scores associated with dietary changes were higher in specific situations (3.42) as compared to general situations (2.86). Similarly, they appeared to perceive more benefits (3.86) rather than barriers (2.76) by changing their inappropriate eating habits. Perception and accuracy scores of nutrition knowledge were relatively high, indicating 90.9 and 80.1, respectively. In terms of food availability at home, fresh fruits received the highest score, followed by milk and milk products, vegetables, meat, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. In social modeling assessment, family members, as compared to friends, appeared to have better dietary habits. Stages of dietary behavioral change assessed in terms of meal regularity were associated with nutrient intake, showing higher energy and carbohydrate intakes but lower fat intake among those who belonged to the action and maintenance stage. They also presented higher self efficacy and perceived more benefits and less barriers regarding the change of undesirable eating habits. Fresh meat and vegetables were more available among those maintaining desirable dietary habits. Results of this study presented the significant relations of motivational and reinforcing social factors with stages of dietary behavioral changes and a need for the development of tailored nutrition education program considering these factors for child-bearing aged Korean women.

A Study on Nutrient Intakes and Hematological Status in Women of Child-Bearing Age: Comparison between Non-Pregnant and Pregnant Women

This study was conducted to evaluate nutritional status of Korean women of child-bearing age. A comparison was made between 113 non-pregnant and 200 pregnant women. Pregnant women of 24-28 weeks of gestation were recruited from prenatal clinic in Seoul. Nonpregnant women were included college students, nurses, office employers, and sales women. General characteristics, anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes, and hematological values were assessed. There was no difference in mean BMI for nonpregnant and pregnant (pre-gravid) women, which were 20.2 kg/m2 and 20.6 kg/m2 respectively. The pregnant women showed a tendency of better health-caring behavior, evidenced by stop smoking and drinking, and in taking nutrient supplements. The mean intakes of energy, vitamin A, vitamin B2, calcium, and iron did not meet Korean RDA for adult women. In particular, calcium and iron intakes of both nonpregnant and pregnant women were under 60% of the Korean RDA. Judging by MDA score, dietary quality was better in pregnant than in nonpregnant women. Mean serum values of albumin, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, Hb, IgA, IgG were in normal range. However, more than 13% of the nonpregnant subjects showed mild hypercholesterolemia (cholesterol>200 mg/dl) and anemia (Hb<12.0 g/dl) . The percentage of anemia in pregnant women were much higher; the subject with Hb<11.0 g/dl were approximately 30%. The pregnant subjects showed significantly higher serum concentrations of triglycerides and cholesterol, and significantly lower concentrations of albumin, IgA, and IgG compared to nonpregnant women. Correlation analysis showed that Hb concentrations were correlated with the intakes of iron- and protein- containing foods such as meat and vegetables. This study strongly suggest that iron-deficient anemia is a major nutrition problem in Korean child-bearing women and this condition is correlated with dietary intakes.