Young Ok Kim

Dietary patterns associated with hypertension among Korean males

The objectives of this study were to identify the dietary patterns associated with hypertension among Korean males. Data from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey of 1,869 men aged 20-65 years were used for the analysis. As an initial analysis, a factor analysis was applied to identify major dietary patterns among the subjects. Then logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the pattern related with hypertension. As a result of the initial analysis, three major dietary patterns were identified. Dietary pattern 1 (traditional) was heavily loaded with vegetables, fish and cereal. Dietary pattern 2 (Western) was loaded with fast foods, bread, meats and dairy products. Dietary pattern 3 (Drinker) was loaded with mostly pork, beer and soju (Korean liquor). From the second stage of the analysis, there was a tendency of positive association between traditional patterns and hypertension risks. However, the tendency did not meet statistical significance level (p<0.05). In summary, unlikely findings from European and American studies, vegetables rich traditional dietary patterns did not show any protective effect on hypertension in Korean males. The Korean dietary practice, which is consuming salted vegetables instead of fresh vegetables, might have played a role in these findings. However, the full explanation of the findings remained to be answered with further investigation since none of the dietary patterns identified showed any statistical significance.

A study testing the usefulness of a dish-based food-frequency questionnaire developed for epidemiological studies in Korea.

The purpose of the present study was to test the usefulness of dish items selected in developing a dish-based FFQ (DFFQ) to be used for epidemiological studies in Korea. The dietary data of 6817 subjects from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used for the analysis. The 24 h recall method was employed for the dietary survey. Initially, ninety-five dish items were selected in developing the DFFQ based on consumption frequency, contribution of selected nutrients and coverage of between-person variations. The usefulness of the selected ninety-five dish items was tested based on their degree of contribution in supplying nutrients in the cumulative percentage contribution (cPC), as well as on their degree of explanation for between-person variation in the cumulative regression coefficient (cMRC). According to the results, the ninety-five selected dish items accounted for an average of 92.3 % of seventeen nutrients consumed by the study subjects based on cPC estimation. The top twenty items among the ninety-five dish items covered 70 to 91 % of the between-person variation for the seventeen nutrients based on cMRC estimation. Thus, the results suggest that the ninety-five items would be useful in developing a FFQ for use in epidemiological studies of Koreans, within less than 10 % underestimation.

Dietary patterns and functional disability in older Korean adults

OBJECTIVES This study examined the relationship between dietary patterns and disability in the Korean elderly. STUDY DESIGN We used data from a cross-sectional study of 327 men and 460 women aged ≥65 years who completed the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A single 24-h dietary recall method was used to assess dietary intake and dietary patterns were identified by cluster analysis. Functional disability was assessed by the activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) scales. The association of dietary patterns with ADL and IADL disability was analyzed by logistic regression adjusting for age, marital status, education, household income, region, chronic conditions, body mass index, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, and energy intake. RESULTS Two dietary patterns were identified in both men and women: the modified traditional dietary pattern, characterized by a relatively lower consumption of white rice, but higher consumption of fruits, dairy products, and legumes, and the traditional dietary pattern, characterized by high consumption of white rice. After controlling for covariates, in men, those who engaged in modified traditional dietary pattern, compared with traditional dietary pattern, showed a lower likelihood of ADL disability (odds ratio [OR]=0.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.05-0.56). In women, the modified traditional dietary pattern compared with the traditional pattern was associated with a significantly decreased risk of ADL (OR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.23-0.90) and IADL disability (OR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.28-0.72). CONCLUSIONS The modified traditional dietary pattern is associated with a decreased risk of functional disability in older Korean adults.

Macronutrient composition and sodium intake of diet are associated with risk of metabolic syndrome and hypertension in Korean women.

Hypertension and hypertriglycemia are the most important contributors to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease risk in South Koreans with a relatively lean body mass. These major contributors differ from those identified in Western populations. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of the Korean diet associated with increased risk of MetS, whose prevalence has been steadily increasing in South Korea. On the basis of data collected from 5,320 subjects by the 2007–2008 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 3 dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis and their association with the risk of MetS and its components was examined. The balanced Korean diet, a typical Korean diet of rice and kimchi intake supplemented by a variety of foods had a desirable macronutrient composition and was associated with a lower risk of elevated blood pressure (OR=0.61, 95% CI=0.45–0.84) and hypertriglyceridemia (0.69, 0.49–0.88) in men and a lower risk of elevated blood pressure (0.59, 0.41–0.85) and MetS (0.67, 0.47–0.96) in women. The unbalanced Korean diet, characterized by a high intake of carbohydrates and sodium and little variety, was associated with a higher risk of MetS (1.44, 1.03–2.01) and elevated blood pressure (1.41, 1.00–1.98) in women. The semi-western diet, characterized by a relatively high intake of meat, poultry, and alcohol, was associated with a lower risk of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.70, 0.54–0.89) in women. Thus, macronutrient composition and sodium intake are associated with the risk of MetS and prehypertension in women. Maintaining a desirable macronutrient composition and avoiding excessive consumption of carbohydrates and sodium should be emphasized for prevention of MetS and hypertension in South Korean women.

Human and riverine impacts on the dynamics of biogeochemical parameters in Kwangyang Bay, South Korea revealed by time-series data and multivariate statistics.

The successful management of sustainable coastal environments that are beneficial to both humans and marine ecosystems requires knowledge about factors that are harmful to such environments. Here, we investigated seawater nutrient and carbon parameters between 2010 and 2012 in Kwangyang Bay, Korea, a coastal environment that has been exposed to intensive anthropogenic activities. The data were analyzed using cluster and factor analysis. We found that the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients and carbon were determined by river discharge into the bay and biological activity. However, the impacts of these factors varied both spatially and seasonally. During the past 10 years, nutrient loads from the river and industrial complexes to the bay have decreased. The impacts of this decrease are visible in the phosphate concentration, which has fallen to a third of its initial value. We also examined the potential role of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in nitrogen cycling in the study area.

Biologically Mediated Seasonality of Aragonite Saturation States in Jinhae Bay, Korea

ABSTRACT Kim, D.; Choi, S.-H.; Yang, E.-J.; Kim, K.-H.; Jeong, J.-H., and Kim, Y.O., 2013. Biologically mediated seasonality of aragonite saturation states in Jinhae Bay, Korea. Aragonite saturation states (Ωarag) were estimated for the surface and bottom waters of Jinhae Bay over four seasons to assess the major controlling factors. The surface and bottom waters of Jinhae Bay were highly supersaturated with respect to aragonite in spring, autumn, and winter. In summer, however, most of the bottom waters were undersaturated, even though the surface waters were supersaturated. This can be explained by the phytoplankton–carbonate saturation state interaction; high primary production increases Ωarag in surface waters, whereas vertical export and the subsequent remineralization of organic matter decreases Ωarag in subsurface waters. A strong linear correlation between the Ωarag values and dissolved oxygen concentrations supported the idea that biological activity is a major factor controlling Ωarag in Jinhae Bay. The ocean acidification induced by the invasion of anthropogenic CO2 also considerably affected the aragonite saturation state in all seasons, particularly in winter, when the Ωarag values have been reduced by 32–35% in the surface waters and 33–37% in the bottom waters since the preindustrial era. In Jinhae Bay, the undersaturation with respect to aragonite in summer can have large impacts on the calcifying benthic organisms; mussel calcification may no longer occur, and the oyster calcification rate is probably reduced by 50%. In addition, the pH and Ωarag decreases associated with the anthropogenic CO2 increase may reduce the calcification rates of oyster and mussel in all seasons, particularly in winter.

The Influences of Additional Nutrients on Phytoplankton Growth and Horizontal Phytoplankton Community Distribution during the Autumn Season in Gwangyang Bay, Korea

In order to estimate the effect of additional nutrients on phytoplankton growth and horizontal phytoplankton community distribution during the autumn season in 2010 and 2011, we investigated the abiotic and biotic factors of surface and bottom waters at 20 stations of inner and offshore areas in Gwangyang Bay, Korea. Also, nutrient additional experiments were conducted to assess additional nutrient effects on phytoplankton assemblage using the surface water. In both years, the total nutrients were high at the enclosed inner bay and the mouth of Seomjin River, whereas it was low at the St.15~20 where in influenced by the surface warm water current from offshore of the bay. On the other hand, nanoand pico-sized Chl. a were gradually increased towards the outer bay and their trends were significant in 2011 than in 2010. The cryptophyta species occupied more than 85% of total phytoplankton assembleges in 2010, whereas their abundance in 2011 remainds to be 1/10 levels of 2010. Following the cryptophata species, the diatom Chaetoceros spp. and Skeletonema -like spp. were found to be dominant species. Further the biosaasy experimental results shows that the phytoplankton biomass in the +N and +NP treatments was higher compared to control and +P treatments and its trend was significant at St.8 and St.20 where nutrient concentration were low. Based on the bioassay and field survey, providing the high nutrients may have stimulated to phytoplankton growth such as S. costatum-like spp.. In particular, opportunistic micro-algae such as Cryptomonas spp. were able to achieve the high biomass under the relatively mid nutrient condition from bottom after break down of seasonal stratification in the Gwangyang Bay.