The Relationships among Quality of Life and Stress, Health-related Habits and Food Intake in Korean Healthy Adults Based on 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey / 대한지역사회영양학회지

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the socioeconomic factors that affect quality of life (QL) in healthy adults and to study the relationship between QL and health-related habits and food intake. METHODS: Subjects consisted of 1,154 healthy adults without any known disease, aged 19 to 65 years from the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. We used SPSS statistical program version 20.0 for data analysis. RESULTS: The average age and QL score of the study population were 36.7 years and 0.99 points, respectively. Males had a significantly higher QL score than the females (p < 0.001), and employed subjects and those employed in permanent positions had significantly higher scores as compared respectively with unemployed subjects and those employed in temporary positions (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). The group that responded "almost every day" to the "frequency of binge drinking" and "frequency of disruption of daily life due to drinking" had significantly lower QL scores as compared to other groups (p < 0.05). Further, the scores were significantly higher for individuals who practiced "intense physical activities" and "walking" (p < 0.001). The groups that responded that they were "very stressed" showed significantly lower QL scores in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in QL scores according to anthropometric or biochemical indices. When subjects were divided into two groups based on average QL scores, the frequency of intake of "barbecued beef" was significantly higher while the frequency of intake of "fried eggs or rolled omelet," and "soy milk" was significantly lower in the high QL group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, it is evident that in healthy adults without any known underlying illnesses, psychological factors such as economic activity, occupational environment, and stress are considered to have a greater impact on their QL than are nutrient intake, blood biochemical indices, and anthropometric status.

Comparison of Food Intakes and Serum Lipid Levels in Overweight and Obese Women by Body Mass Index / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was done to investigate the health-related habits, dietary intakes and serum lipid levels in overweight and obese women by body mass index (BMI). Subjects were 137 pre-menopausal women aged 19 to 49 years. They were divided by 3 groups, overweight (23 or = 30) according to their BMI. Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method. Dietary intakes were examined by 3-day record method and nutrient intakes were analyzed by the Computer Aided Nutritional analysis program for professionals (CAN-pro 3.1). Serum lipid levels were measured using automatic biochemical analyzer (Selectra E). The average age, height, weight, and BMI of subjects were 31.7 years old, 159.3 cm, 69.4 kg, and 27.4 kg/m(2), respectively. Their average consumption of energy were 12 kcal and 86.4% of estimated energy requirement (EER). Their mean ratio of carbohydrate : protein : fat was 55.2 : 14.6 : 30.2. Particularly, the fat consumption of subjects tended to be elevated with increasing BMI. There was no significant difference in nutrient intakes among 3 groups. But the mean intakes of Ca, Fe, vitamin C and Na of all the subjects were 70.1%, 87.2%, 75.7% of recommended intake (RI) and 258.9% of adequate intake (AI), respectively. The intakes of vegetables and seaweeds were significantly higher in morbidly obese group while the intake of fruits was higher in overweight group compared to the other groups. Serum lipid analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol among the groups. But the serum HDL-cholesterol level of the overweight group was significantly higher than that of the other groups. LDL-/HDL-cholesterol ratio and AI index were significantly higher in the morbidly obese group compared to the other groups. In addition, The systolic blood pressure of morbidly obese group was significantly higher compared to the other groups. Overall data suggest that morbidly obese women have to more concern about reducing systolic blood pressure and serum lipid levels by decreasing their fat consumption and salt intakes as well as loosing body fat. In addition, all the subjects participated in this study have to be careful about their meals and health-related behaviors in order to prevent obesity-related chronic diseases.

A Study on Social Factors and Physical Health Status of the Long-Lived Elderly People in Ganghwa-gun Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was to performed to assess social factors and physical health status. The subjects of the study were 103 elderly people of age over 85 years living in Ganghwa-gun area. The method of this research was based on the interview-survey with questionnaire. Chi-square test was the main data analysis method. The subject group was composed of 36 males and 67 females, the average age being 91.0 +/- 3.2 years old for the males and 91.1 +/- 3.4 years old for the females. The aged average height and weight were 161.0 +/- 7.9 cm and 54.6 +/- 7.8 kg in males, 141.0 +/- 8.2 cm and 42.2 +/- 7.9 kg in females which were lower than the Korean average standard but the mean BMIs of both male and female showed normal range. Their level of education was lower and they tended to be religious. The aged population might be economically poor. Their level of living standards tended to have been lower-middle and lower class. The mean age of their parents' death were 64.3 +/- 17.2 years in males, 59.0 +/- 14.9 years in females for the father and 70.9 +/- 15.5 years in males, 66.8 +/- 16.6 years in females for the mother. The rate of living together with their family or spouse in the female aged was 83.2% higher than in the male aged. They tended to have engaged in hobbies that require less movement. Of the kinds of hobby, "TV watching (47.8% in male and 44.9% in female) was the highest. Ratios of the drinking and the smoking elderly were 30.6%, 25.0% in male and 7.5%, 18.8% in female but they tended to have never drunken and smoked. Of the subjects, 42.9% spend 8~9 hours for sleeping in male and 35.8% spend 10 hours for sleeping in female. They tended to have not done any particular health behavior. The most common diseases were digestive disease in male, arthritis and hypertension in female. Most elderly males (47.3%) and females (61.2%) had 1~2 diseases.

The Influence of Health-Related Habits on Nutrient Intake and Food Frequency of Middle-Aged Subjects in Seoul / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study examined the effectiveness of two commonly used dietary assessment methods (the 24-hour recall and the food frequency questionnaire) in the epidemiological investigations of health-related habits and degenerative diseases. This cross sectional project in the Seoul area was conducted for the purpose of establishing cohort subjects and collecting reliable nutrient intake data for a further large-scale cross sectional study. The subjects were 91 volunteers from the Seoul area with a mean age of 53.5 +/- 9.6 for the males and 52.2 +/- 8.9 for the females. The subjects had a rela-tively high educational background, were from high socioeconomic levels, and were greatly concerned about healthrelated life styles. There was a significantly negative correlation between their smoking and their nutrient intake. Their drinking habits, their self-estimated health status and their concern or stress about being healthy did not have any influence on their nutrient intakes. Skipping meals was the most undesirable dietary habit influencing their nutrient intakes, and the next was their irregularity of eating meals. The subjects who liked legumes and fish had higher intakes of iron and niacin and those who liked milk and dairy products had higher intakes of calcium, vitamin B2 and fat. The subjects who considered themselves not to be healthy consumed higher amounts of fish and shell-fish, and those who considered themselves to be healthy consumed higher amounts of vegetables. The smokers consumed less fruits than non-smokers, but there was no correlation between their drinking and consumption of the food groups. There was no correlation between their food consumption frequency and their skipping meals or meal irregularity. There were positive correlations between their food likes and food consumption frequency for foods such as meat, milk and dairy products, seaweeds and fruits. Therefore, their smoking, skipping meals and meal irregularity appeared to greatly influence their nutrient intakes. Significant correlations were found between their health-related habits and their food group preferences and food frequencies. This implies that simple surveying methods using criteria such as smoking, skipping meals and meal irregularity, food group preferences and eating frequencies can be used as useful tools in the assessment of nutritional statuses.

Differences in the Dietary and Health-Related Habits and Quality of Diet in University Students Living in Daejeon / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was investigated the differences in the dietary habits and quality of diet among 148 university students in Daejeon between 1993 (71 subjects) and 2000 (77 subjects). Among male students, there were increases in height and decreases in weight, but the number in the normal weight group assessed by the BMI, increased. Significant increases in meal regularity and the rate of considering a balanced diet at meal time and significant decreases in the rate of eating unbalanced meals were noted over time among the male students. The number of male students drinking alcohol and those drinking alcohol frequently decreased significantly. When considering differences in the nutrient intake of males according to the Korean RDA, the percentages of energy, iron, and Vitamin B2 decreased, while those of Vitamin C, calcium, and phosphorus increased over time. The NAR (Nutrient Adequacy Ratio) of most nutrients, especially in iron and Vitamin C were higher, than those of 1993, but the NAR of calcium, iron, Vitamin B2, niacin and MAR (Mean Adequacy Ratio) were lower than 0.75 in the males. The INQ (Index of nutritional quality) of Vitamin C was higher than that of 1993, and the INQ of calcium and Vitamin B2 were lower than 1 among the males. Among the females, there was no change in height and weight between 1993 and 2000, but the normal weight group, as assessed by the BMI, increased as among the males. However, unlike among the males, significant decreases in meal regularity and significant increases in the rate of alcohol drinking were noted over time. The intake of energy and nutrients showed trends similar to those among the males. The NARs of most nutrients were lower than those of 1993 among in the females. The INQs of protein, calcium, Vitamin B1, and Vitamin C increased significantly, but the INQs of calcium, iron, and Vitamin B2 were lower than 1 among the females. From these results, we found that male students showed relatively desirable changes over time in their dietary and health-related habits and the quality of their diets, while female students showed undesirable changes in their dietary and alcohol drinking habits and the quality of their diets.

A Study of Health-related Habits, Dietary Behaviors and the Health Status of the Middle-aged and the Elderly Living in the Chonju Area (II) / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study investigated the anthropometric and biochemical indices, and the health and nutritional factors influencing the two indices among 194 middle-aged and elderly subjects (108 middle-aged and 86 elderly) residing in a medium sized city for more than 10 years. In the examination of their dietary habits, 8.3% of the middle-aged subjects and 14.0% of the elderly subjects had two meals a day, and more female subjects had two meals per day. Of the subjects who ate meals at regular times, 75.0% were middle-aged and 79.1% were elderly, and the degree of irregularity of meals was greater for female subjects. The study of the dietary behavior of the subjects indicated that 71.3% and 66.3% of the middle-aged and elderly, respectively responded that the amount of food in each meal was sufficient. The subjects ate alone comprised 19.7% of the middle-aged females and 31.5% of the elderly females. The prevalence of smoking among the subjects was 28.1% for the middle-aged, 18.8% for the elderly male and 7.4% for the elderly females. The percentage of the subjects who drank alcohol was 34.4% of the middle-aged males and 13.2% of the middle-aged females. Slightly less than half of the subjects exercised more than once a week, with the male subjects showing a higher rate than the female subjects. The average body mass indices (BMI) were 24.5 and 24.6 for the middle-aged male and female, respectively, and 22.6 and 24.0 for the elderly male and female, respectively. BMI assessment showed that underweight subjects (BMI or = 30). A waist/hip ratio (WHR) greater than 0.8 was found in 89.5% of the middle-aged females and 90.7% of the elderly females, showing high abdominal fat deposition in the majority of females. The average systolic blood pressure of females was 121.1 +/- 17.1 mmHg for the middle-aged and 129.6 +/- 21.3 mmHg for the elderly subjects. The systolic blood pressures showed a significantly difference between the two age groups. Those defined as anemic subjects based on hemoglobin values comprised 13.0% of the middled-aged group and 16.3% of the elderly group. There was a tendency for higher fasting glucose levels among the elderly subjects. An increase in total plasma cholesterol levels with age was shown. The female subjects had higher cholesterol levels than the males'. The study of the correlation between the daily habits and health status showed that the amount of food eaten at each meal, the frequency of eating out, and the use of dietary supplements appeared to influence BMI, WHR, the plasma triglyceride and plasma cholesterol levels; omitting one meal had a positive correlation with the systolic blood pressure and plasma cholesterol. These results suggest that desirable dietary habits and concerns for health are contributing factors for maintaining good health, as indicated by normal blood lipid levels.

Nutrition Status of the Rural Elderly Living in Kyungnam-Focusing on Health-Related Habits, Dietary Behaviors of Nutrient Intakes / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was conducted to provide basic information on the nutritional status and health status of the rural elderly. The food intake, food habits and others health related factors were surveryed by interview method. The subjects was 200 people(71 male, 129 female) aged over 65 year in the Han-an area. The obtained results as follows; Their average age is 73.5+/-5.6. Mean height and weight of elderly men were 163 cm and 58.1 kg. respectively and 148.7 cm and 50.0 kg for women. The regularity appetite and frequency of eating snacks and eating out were higher in men than in women. The favorite snacks for men were alcohol fruit coffee and for women was fruit, candy, cookies and coffee. The daily alcohol drinking and smoking ration were 50.0%, 60.6% for men, respectively and 14.0%, 24.8 % for women. The nutritional intake ratio to RDA of men was significantly higher than women. Especially, the intakes of energy, Ca, Vit.A, Vit B1, Vit B2 niacin were extremely low in women. The frequency of alcohol intake was related to nutrient intake of women . There was a negative correlation between age. smoking rate and the nutritional intake. The pocket money, weight height appetite, and frequency of snacks showed a positive relation to nutritional intake. In conclusion the study shows that gender did influence food intake in the elderly, Food intake of women was extremely in deficit, because the most elderly rural women live alone. For successful aging. a program for rural elderly is needed on the govermment level, i.e actions to provide minimum economic life, food delivery and psychological/ physical health care through regional pubilc health centers.