Dietary intake and nutritional status of Korean children and adolescents: a review of national survey data

Diet, physical activity, and UV protection comprehensively influenced vitamin D status in college students: a cross-section study from China

BACKGROUND

Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most prevalent health problems worldwide in all age groups, whereas vitamin D status of Chinese college students was seldom studied in China. The purpose of this study was to explore the vitamin D status in Chinese college freshmen and its influencing factors, providing evidence for nutrition strategy application.

METHODS

Information including demographic status, diet habit, physical activity, and ultraviolet ray (UV) protection was collected by online questionnaire. Serum 25(OH)D₃ concentrations were measured using a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to explore the comprehensive influence of diet, physical activity and UV protection on serum 25(OH)D₃ levels.

RESULTS

Totally 1667 freshmen from 26 provinces, autonomous districts or municipalities, were recruited, with a mean age of 18.6 ± 0.9 years. The mean serum 25(OH)D₃ levels were 18.1 ± 6.3 ng/mL and the proportion of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency was 67.5% and 27.8%, respectively. Multivariate linear regression indicated that higher intake of milk and yogurt, calcium or vitamin D supplementation, and longer time of outdoor activity were positively linked to higher serum 25(OH)D₃, while higher intake of candy and higher UV protection index were negatively associated with serum 25(OH)D₃, after adjusted for age, gender, region of original residence, latitudes, longitude and BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Vitamin D deficiency is very common in Chinese college students. Milk and yogurt intake and outdoor activity should be encouraged while candy intake should be limited for preventing vitamin D deficiency. Public health policies should focus on these changeable lifestyles and consider well-balanced guidelines on UV protection and vitamin D supplementation.

Anxiety and depression and their interdependent influencing factors among medical students in Inner Mongolia: the cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Mental health has become a global problem, among which anxiety and depression disorder were ranked as the first and sixth leading causes of disability, respectively, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Medical students experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than the general population. But there was a lack of research on the emotional situation among medical students in Inner Mongolia. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms as well as the factors that influence them among medical students in Inner Mongolia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1282 students from a university in Inner Mongolia, China, ranging in age from 16 to 27 years. They were assessed demographic indicators, the disorder of anxiety and depression using Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SAS and SDS) by an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. The internal reliability and validity of the questionnaire were determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), and Bartlett's sphericity. T-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to explore factors, including demographic and behavioral information influencing anxiety and depression disorder. According to the above results of exploring the influencing factors based on univariate analysis, significant factors (p < 0.05) were entered into multiple linear regressions that sequentially fitted to predictors associated with anxiety and depression. The collected data were entered into EpiData for windows and analyzed using SPSS 26.0. The p < 0.05 was considered to be significantly different.

RESULTS

The questionnaire was completed by 1187 students with a 92.59% response rate. The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms among medical students were 10.36% and 24.43%, and the mean ± standard deviation (M ± SD) anxiety and depression scores were 39.60 ± 7.81 and 48.23 ± 9.06, respectively, among the medical students. The specific contributions of the two scales with good reliability and validity were 60.58% and 63.59%, respectively. For univariate analysis, age, whether the daily meal was at a fixed time, grade, the birthplace of students, average daily eating habits, were the factors that influenced both the total score of SAS and SDS (p < 0.05). For further analysis, the results showed that "Birthplace of students" and "Whether daily meals at a fixed time" were significantly associated with anxiety and depression. Furthermore, "Age" and "Mode of delivery" were independent risk factors for depressive disorder.

CONCLUSION

Our findings revealed that high prevalence of mental health problems among medical students in Inner Mongolia. The Ministry of Medical Education should make a targeted intervention for specific risk factors of this study to improve psychological well-being and face uncertain future challenges among university students in Inner Mongolia.

Nutrition, Body Composition, and Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

We aimed to investigate the association between nutrition and blood pressure and the role that body composition plays in this relationship. Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from the years 2008-2020 were reviewed. A total of 11,234 subjects (5974 boys and 5260 girls) aged 10-18 years of age were selected. We analyzed the correlation between nutrition (intakes of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, sodium, saturated fatty acid (SFA), unsaturated fatty acid (USFA), and dietary fiber (DF)) and body composition (height, weight, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and waist to height ratio (WHtR)), and performed multiple regression analysis to find the independent correlation between body composition and blood pressure (BP). We then compared the correlation between nutrition and BP, with or without adjustment for body composition. The intakes of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, sodium, and USFA had positive associations with height, weight, WC, and BMI. Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were independently positively correlated with height and BMI. The intakes of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, sodium, and SFA had positive correlations with SBP and DBP, which disappeared when additionally adjusted for BMI and height. In conclusion, nutrition seems to affect BP via height and BMI in Korean children and adolescents.

Association between Obesity and Anemia in a Nationally Representative Sample of South Korean Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Anemia is associated with physical, cognitive, and developmental problems. Given that there are limited studies on anemia prevalence among obese Asian adolescents and that past evidence is controversial, this study investigated the relationship between obesity and anemia in a nationally representative sample of South Korean adolescents. Data were obtained from the 2007–2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Overall, 10,231 subjects were included in the analysis. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between obesity and anemia. Compared with the non-obesity group, the adjusted odds ratio (OR; 95% confidence interval [CI]) of anemia was 1.00 (0.66–1.50) in the obesity group. However, in the early adolescent subgroup of 10–13 years (adjusted OR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.20–6.95), the risk of anemia was significantly higher in the obese group than in the non-obese group. Obesity was associated with an increased risk of anemia in early adolescents. Obese adolescents aged 10–13 require special care, especially through regular examination and management for anemia.