Objectives This study aimed to develop evaluation criteria for the elementary-school-based health promotion program using the RE-AIM framework and to examine their feasibility. Methods Previous evaluation studies on health interventions for elementary-school students using the RE-AIM framework were reviewed systematically to identify appropriate evaluation criteria. A diet and physical activity intervention based on the transtheoretical model was implemented in a pilot study using the “Happy Me” application. The feasibility of using the RE-AIM framework to evaluate it was examined. Results The review yielded the following evaluation criteria: “reach,” the ratio of participants out of the total target population; “efficacy/effectiveness,” the difference in outcomes between the intervention and control groups, or between a pre- and post-test; “adoption,” the rate of use of the program and participation in the next stage of the program; “implementation,” the progress on the program components; “maintenance,” the participants’ and teachers’ intention to continue using the program. The pilot study reached 76.6% of the targeted population. The intake of sugar-sweetened beverages decreased (P < 0.0001), and the duration of walking increased (P < 0.0001). Other indicators could not be evaluated; therefore, potential indicators were suggested. Conclusions This study produced feasible evaluation criteria for elementary-school-based health promotion using the RE-AIM framework. Nevertheless, the feasibility needs to be validated with a broader range of studies and long-term interventions.
Objectives This study was performed to identify the current barriers of obesity management for children using Community Child Care Centers and their caregivers (parents and teachers working in the Centers). Further, this study explored the possibility of utilizing a mobile phone application for tailored obesity prevention and management programs to overcome the current difficulties associated with children's obesity management. Methods The qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with 20 obese and overweight children or children who wanted to participate in this study using Community Child Care Centers, 12 teachers working at the Centers, and a focus group interview with five parents of children using the Centers. Data were analyzed with a thematic approach categorizing themes and sub-themes based on the transcripts. Results The current barriers of obesity management of obese and overweight children using Community Child Care Centers were lack of self-directed motivation regarding obesity management (chronic obesity-induced lifestyles and reduced self-confidence due to stigma) and lack of support from households and Community Child Care Centers (latchkey child, inconsistency in dietary guidance between the Center and household, repetitive pressure to eat, and absence of regular nutrition education). Mobile phone applications may have potential to overcome the current barriers by providing handy and interesting obesity management based on visual media (real-time tracking of lifestyles using behavior records and social support using gamification), environmental support (supplementation of parental care and network-based education between the Community Child Care Center and household), and individualized intervention (encouragement of tailored and gradual changes in eating habits and tailored goal setting). It is predicted that the real-time mobile phone program will provide information for improving nutritional knowledge and behavioral skills as well as lead to sustainable children’s coping strategies regarding obesity management. In addition, it is expected that environmental factors may be improved by network-based education between the Community Child Care Centers and households using the characteristics of mobile phones, which are free from space and time constraints. Conclusions The tailored education program for children using Community Child Care Centers based on mobile phones may prevent and reduce childhood obesity by overcoming the current barriers of obesity management for children, providing environmental and individualized support to promote healthy lifestyles and quality of life in the future.
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An Interactive Live and Online Cooking Program for Children in Vulnerable Families—An Exploratory Study Jiyoung Park, Sein Hwang, Seolhyang Baek, Gill A. Ten Hoor Healthcare.2022; 10(12): 2389. CrossRef
OBJECTIVES This study examined whether the infant feeding type and duration are related to the introduction of complementary feeding, and whether the appropriate introduction of complementary feeding in infancy is related to tooth decay in toddlers. METHODS The subjects were 1,521 toddlers among 2~3 year old children in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2008 to 2015. The toddlers were divided into the appropriate group (4~6 months) and delayed group (>6 months) according to the timing of complementary feeding introduction. RESULTS The delayed group were 26.5% of subjects and the formula feeding period in the appropriate group and delayed group was 8.4 and 10.3 months, respectively (P=0.002). On the other hand, there was no difference in the breastfeeding period between the appropriate group and delayed group (P=0.6955). Early childhood caries was more common in the delayed group (P=0.0065). The delayed introduction of complementary feeding was associated with a risk of early childhood caries according to the logistic models (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.27–2.57). CONCLUSIONS The introduction of complementary feeding is associated with early childhood caries. Therefore, the importance of the proper introduction of complementary feeding in infancy should be emphasized, and public relations and education for maternal care and breastfeeding should be provided through health care institutions.
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OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to investigate the current difficulties surrounding children's obesity management and evaluate the application of a mobile phone as a tool to overcome such difficulties of obesity management from the perspective of main caregivers of elementary school students. METHODS The qualitative data were collected through 3 focus group interviews including 6 full-time housewives, 7 mothers with overweight children, and 4 working mothers. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. RESULTS The limitations of current children's obesity management included difficulty in diet management and exercise as well as challenges of setting goals and lack of support at the household and school levels. Mobile technology may be useful to overcome the current problems by providing real-time knowledge on diet management and physical activity, online compensation scheme according to goal setting, and interactive environmental supports at both household and school levels for promoting overall health. CONCLUSIONS The mobile-based multiple support program may assist in overcoming the current limitations of child obesity management by providing tailored information and by creating a more supportive environment.
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Current Barriers of Obesity Management of Children Using Community Child Care Centers and Potential Possibility of Utilizing Mobile Phones: A Qualitative Study for Children and Caregivers Bo Young Lee, Mi-Young Park, Kirang Kim, Jea Eun Shim, Ji-Yun Hwang Korean Journal of Community Nutrition.2020; 25(3): 189. CrossRef
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OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to investigate providers' perspectives on current challenges in implementing a program for prevention and management of childhood obesity and adoption of mobile phone as a potential solution of leveraging multimodal delivery and support in a school setting. METHODS The qualitative data were collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews with 23 elementary-school teachers, 6 pediatricians, and 6 dieticians from community health centers and analyzed using a qualitative research methodology. RESULTS Current challenges and potential solutions of obesity-prevention and -management program for obesity program for elementary school children were deduced as two themes each. Lack of tailored intervention due to limited recipient motivation, lack of individualized behavioral intervention, and different environmental conditions can be solvable by mobile technology-based personalized intervention which brings about interactive recipient participation, customized behavioral intervention, and ubiquitous accessibility. Lack of sustainable management due to stigmatization, limited interactions between program providers and inconsistent administrative support can be handled by multimodal support based on school setting using mobile platform providing education of health promoting behaviors toward larger scale and interactive networking between program participants, and minimizing administrative burden. CONCLUSIONS Adoption of mobile-based health management program may overcome current limitations of child obesity program such as lack of tailored intervention and sustainable management via personalized intervention and multimodal supports although some concerns such as increased screen time need to be carefully considered in a further study.
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A Qualitative Study on the Potential Utilization of a Mobile Phone for Obesity Management in Elementary-School Children : Parents Perspective Bo Young Lee, Mi-Young Park, Kirang Kim, Jea Eun Shim, Ji-Yun Hwang Korean Journal of Community Nutrition.2019; 24(2): 117. CrossRef
OBJECTIVES The present study systematically reviewed previous studies published in Korea regarding obesity status of children and adolescents in order to provide valid directions for future research and to help establish evidence-based prevention strategies. METHODS The articles were selected by searching the primary keyword ‘obesity’ and the secondary keywords ‘children’, ‘young children’, ‘adolescents’ or ‘kids’ on the KISS (Korean Studies Information Service System). Out of 503 articles excluding the overlap, 308 articles were selected with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Secular trends of obesity research, distribution of subjects, potential risk factors for obesity, and intervention method for obesity management were documented. The associations between obesity and dietary factors were summarized. RESULTS The overall number of research studies has increased since 2000 but obesity management studies have decreased in recent years. Most of the studies used a cross-sectional design. Research on preschool children were extremely limited. Intervention studies targeting males were prevalent. The most significant variables relevant to dietary habits were speed of eating, regular breakfast and snacking. The most significant food and nutrient intake factors were thiamin and iron. Intakes of cereals and animal foods were significantly higher in obese children than the counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The present review of locally published articles on the obesity status in children and adolescents suggested the need for well-designed further studies focused on risk factors of obesity and on a range of intervention methods conducive to the development of obesity prevention and management programs.
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Although there has been a significant increase in breast-feeding (BF) rate in Korea, it is plateaued since 2008 and still low compared with that of other countries. Because BF has been related to lower obesity prevalence in many studies and the increase in childhood obesity became evident in Korea, we wondered if a relatively lower BF rate has anything to do with this increase. Therefore, we looked into the relationship between mode & duration of BF during infancy and weight status of toddlers using the data from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008 through 2011. Number of 2-3 year old toddlers with complete information on BF, anthropometry and normal birth weight was 674. While 87% of them were ever-breastfed, 6.2% each of them were either obese or overweight based on the Standard Growth Chart for Korean Children. Not only the obesity prevalence was different among groups of different mode of feeding, but also the mean duration of BF was significantly longer in normal weight group (9.2 mo.) compared with obese group (5.5 mo.). Accordingly, overweight and obesity prevalence of the toddlers breast-fed for 12 months or longer was significantly lower than that of the toddlers breast-fed for less than 12 months (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.32-0.87). This study revealed that both BF and duration of BF affect the childhood obesity and, BF for 12 months or longer should be encouraged more aggressively as one of the main strategies to prevent and/or decrease childhood obesity in Korea.
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Childhood obesity has rapidly increased worldwide and is one of the most serious health problems in this age group. In order to prevent and manage childhood obesity, we developed a nutrition education website. The website consisted of three parts. The first part was made for self-assessment with regard to obesity index, dietary habits, food frequency, dietary attitude, nutrition knowledge, nutrient intake, energy expenditure, and the stage of behavioral change, and tailored messages and advice according to the assessment results. A total of 612 real-size food photos as well as a nutrient database of 3,346 foods and 541 dishes were created to help children estimate nutrient intakes accurately. In addition, an energy expenditure database of 156 activities for children was established to calculate calorie consumption. The second part was made for setting long-term and short-term goals and keeping track of the changes in energy intake and expenditure in one's own page. The third part was made for education. Various types of nutrition information were provided; texts, pictures, calculators and games. The readability and design of the website were evaluated by 46 obese children. Usefulness, design and readability of the website were found to be desirable for children. This website is expected to be used by an obese child alone or with parents or nutrition teachers in order to control body weight through healthy dietary habits and physical activities. In addition, a non-obese child can also use this website for maintaining healthy dietary habits and preventing obesity.
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This study was aimed at knowing the recognition of teachers' nutrition knowledge and nutrition education at day-care centers in Seong-nam. Teachers were all female, most of whom were in the 20, and their careers were less than 3 years. And 76.2% of the teachers graduated from high school and junior college. The score of the nutrition knowledge was average 14.3 +/- 2.2 (out of 20). It shows that they are lack of general information of nutrition. As the teachers had higher education, they scored higher nutrition knowledge levels (p<0.01). It also says that there was meaningful interrelationship between the nutrition knowledge and the number of children they had (p<0.05). 93% of the teachers said that nutrition education should be given when children are three years old, at least and most of the teachers thought that nutrition education is necessary and should be taught in a separate course. 50.4% of the teachers thought that nutrition education for early childhood should be taught by a nutritionist, but 35.2% of them thought that the teachers themselves should be in charge of it. About 60% of the teachers thought that 'Cooking Activity for Early Childhood' course should be established and it is desirable that the nutrition education should be in the area of cooking activity for childhood at daycare centers. The teachers thought that dietary habit is the most important subject in nutrition education and they got more information from the internet rather than in the class related to nutrition.
The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of nutrition education program on nutrition knowledge, eating behaviors, food habit, nutrient intakes in obese children and their parents who live in Gumi city. The subjects were 16 obese boys, 20 obese girls with obesity index over 130% and 36 of their parents. The nutrition education for the subjects was carried out by the professional personnel such as doctors, professors, and dietitians. The children were provided with well-balanced lunch meals and had 40 min-lectures on the reasonable weight management, 40 min-games and also had regular exercises (stretching, swimming) for 90 mins everyday during 2 weeks of the program. The parents had 90 min-lectures on childhood obesity, diet therapy, behavior modification, and exercise for 6 times. The nutrition knowledge, eating behaviors and food habits were surveyed by using questionnaires before and after the education. The nutrition intakes of the children were surveyed before and after the education by 3-day food record method. The nutrition intakes of the parents were surveyed before and after the education by using semi-quantity questionnaires. After the education, the mean nutrition knowledge scores were significantly improved compared with the pretest scores in both children and parents. After the education, all subjects' eating behaviors were significantly changed positively and calorie and carbohydrates intakes were significantly decreased and vit. C was significantly increased in obese children. The food habits of the parents were significantly improved after the education. These findings show that the well-designed nutrition education program for obese children and their parents can be an effective approach to help them to improve their nutrition knowledge and to establish desirable food habits and eating behaviors.
The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of nutrition education program on anthropometric values and boichemical index in obese children who live in Gumi city. The subjects were 16 obese boys, 20 obese girls with obesity index over 130 and 36 of their parents. The nutrition education was carried out by the professional personnel such as doctors, professors, and dietitians. The children were provided with well-balanced lunch meals and had 40min-lectures on the reasonable weight management, 40 min-games and also had regular exercises (stretching, swimming) for 90 mins everyday during 2weeks of the program. The parents had 90 min-lectures on childhood obesity, diet therapy, behavior modification, and exercise for 6times. After the program, obesity index, BMI, % body fat were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in boys and obese index, BMI, % body fat and WHR were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in girls. Blood cholesterol and TG levels of girls were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). These findings show that the well-designed nutrition education program for obese children can be an effective approach to help them to improve their anthropometric values and biochemical index.
This study was done to determine the factors associated with childhood overweight in 721 sixth grade elementary school students, in Busan. The students' heights, weights, waist circumferences and triceps-skinfold thicknesses were measured using standard techniques. Other data were collected using a questionnaire that included information about physical activity, television watching, and the amount of exorcise taken during leisure times, family history of diseases related to obesity: social data including family income, parents' education and occupations, eating behaviors; parental weights and heights; and parental activity levels. Childhood overweight was defined as a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex. The prevalence of overweight revealed no significant difference between sexes, (24.2% in boys and 22.03% in girls). The risk of childhood overweight was significantly greater if either the mother or the father were overweight. The odds ratio for childhood overweight associated with maternal overweight was 5.045 (94% CI : 3.262-7.801), and 2.727 (95% CI : 1.764-4.218) was the case for parental overweight. Children having a history of hear diseases had higher odds ratios than those who did not. The odds ratios for overweight associated with income were not different. However, a higher odds ratio for overweight was observed in children whose fathers had only an elementary or middle school education than those whore fathers had a high school or college education. Children whose fathers' occupations were service workers or shopkeepers (OR : 3.314, 95% C = 1.851-5.934) or had no occupation (OR = 3.756, 95% CI : 1.898-7.430) had a treater risk of overweight than those whose fathers' were professionals or once workers. The risk of overweight increased in children having more irregular meal times and faster eating times, rather than those having an intake pattern of high energy and sugar containing floods. The amount of exercise taken during leisure times, and daily physical activity showed no difference between overweight and non-overweight children. However, television watching time, especially on weekends, was greater in overweight children than in non-overweight children. Television watching time was positively correlated with BMI, triceps-skin(31d thickness, waist circumference and waist/height ratio. Therefore, television watching was found to be a useful predictor of overweight in children. Television watching in children was negatively related to paternal activity levels, and positively related to parental television watching time. In fact, fathers whose children were overweight were physically less active than fathers whose children were non-overweight. Parents appeared to be a strong influence on their children's physical activity levels. In conclusion, a low family social class, defined on the basis of the father's occupation or education, parental overweight, increased television watching, and unhealthy physical activity levels in parents were all considered risk factors for childhood overweight. Among these, television watching time and lack of physical activity were considered to be the most important risk factors that could be easily modified for the prevention of and intervention in, overweight in children.
This study was carried to estimate the prevalence of obesity and to investigate the relationship between stress and obesity in children. The subjects were 508 children, who were randomly selected from the fifth and sixth grade at nine elementary schools in Kangnung. The height, body weight, waist and hip circumferences and body fat(%) were measured and the levels of stress were assessed by a questionnaire consisting of the following 3 domains ; 4 items for personal factors, 11 for home, and 18 for school. The prevalence of obesity in male and female children greatly varied by the indices from 2.5% and 1.7% when judged by BMI, 9.5% and 4.0% by obesity index, and 29.7% and 34.4% by body fat(%). The stress scores from personal(47.1%) and school (47.9%) factors were higher than the stress score from home(38.5%). The stress score from personal factors of female children is significantly higher than that of male children, but the stress score from home of female children is significantly lower than that of male children. The personal stress score and the total stress score of obese female children were significantly higher than those of non-obese female children. In male children, the obesity index(%) or body fat(%) have a significant positive correlation with the stress scores from over-expectation of parents, a lack of conversation with family, examinations, discontent about school, teacher's partiality to students, and sexual curiosity. The female children have a significantly positive correlation of obesity index (%) or body fat(%) with stress scores from appearance, quarrels of parents, and inferiority complex to brothers or sisters. These results suggested that counselling and education about not only balanced diet but also the strategies for actively coping with stress are needed to prevent and treat childhood obesity.
The nutrition knowledge and food attitude of obese children were assessed and compared with their normal children counterparts to provide information for nutrition education programs. One hundred forty six obese children and 92 normal children from the fourth to sixth grade in Bucheon and Anyang elementary schools of Kyeong-gi Province were selected for the study. A multiple choice questionnaire, including 12 items of general nutrition knowledge and 13 items of weight control, were used to test the nutrition knowledge of children. The results of this study are as follows : 1) 57.5% of male and 40.9% of female obese children had experience with weight control, but the rate of correct answers on the nutrition knowledge test ranged from 53% to 58%, which does not show any significant difference between the two groups. The rate of correct answers on items conrerning 'general nutrition knowledge' and 'nutrition knowledge for weight control' did not show any significant difference among the two groups. 2) Obese male students showed a higher rate of correct answers(59.2%) on items of 'the proper food selection for obese children', compared with their counterparts and also obese female students showed a higher rate of correct answers(88.6%) on 'physical exercise', compared with their counterparts. 3) The rate of correct answers on nutrition knowledge of 'basic food groups', 'the functions of iron and vitamins', 'the concept of energy', and 'the principle of weight change' were lower than 40%. 4) The obese children frequently did not have breakfast, overate during lunch in many cases, and had low recognition on knowledge that was necessary to weight control. 5) Only 30.9% and 22.7% of male and female obese children replied that they would participate in weight control programs. However, 53.6% of males and 68.2% of females did not show any concern in participating the programs. From these results, it was suggested that it is necessary to motivate the obese to participate in weight-control program. When developing nutrition education programs for the obese, the contents of the questions that showed a low correct answering rates should be emphasized.