Cataracts are a major cause of visual impairment worldwide, particularly among older adults, with an increasing prevalence due to population aging. Surgery is the primary treatment; however, preventive strategies are crucial for reducing the disease burden. This study aimed to investigate dietary and health-related factors associated with cataract occurrence and develop a predictive model using machine learning. Data were derived from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015–2017. The study included 190 women aged 60–79 years: 124 with cataracts and 66 controls. Analyzed variables included sociodemographic, behavioral, chronic disease, and dietary intake factors. After data preprocessing, 4 machine learning algorithms: support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), eXtreme gradient boosting, and multilayer perceptron were used. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and precision-recall curves. Among the tested models, the SVM achieved the best performance under stratified 10-fold cross-validation, with 71% accuracy, 86% precision, 73% recall, 79% F1-score, 65% AUROC, and 81% AUPRC. According to our findings, the odds of having cataracts can be effectively predicted using dietary and health data without relying on specialized ophthalmic equipment. The proposed model demonstrates the potential of machine learning-based tools for early identification and prevention of cataracts. Future studies with larger and more diverse samples, as well as integrating additional data sources such as genomics and lifestyle factors, are warranted to refine predictive accuracy and enhance personalized nutrition-based interventions.
Protein intake has been identified as a key modifiable factor in preventing and managing sarcopenia, a common age-related condition characterized by the loss of muscle mass, strength, and function. This scoping review aimed to summarize the available literature on the association between protein intake and sarcopenia-related outcomes among Korean older adults and identify current research trends and gaps in this field. The review followed the 5-step methodological framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley for scoping reviews and adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to ensure a comprehensive search strategy. Protein intake was assessed using various methods, including grams per day, grams per kilogram of body weight per day, and intake quartiles. Sarcopenia-related outcomes were categorized into 3 domains as follows: muscle mass, strength, and physical performance. Although most intervention studies demonstrated improvements in muscle mass following protein supplementation, findings on muscle strength and physical function were inconsistent. Cross-sectional studies generally reported better sarcopenia-related outcomes with higher protein intake, particularly when the intake was expressed relative to body weight or analyzed according to quartiles. However, heterogeneity in protein intake assessments and variations in sarcopenia definitions could have contributed to the inconsistent findings across studies. This review highlights the need for applying standardized approaches for protein intake measurement and sarcopenia diagnosis. Future studies should consider the quantity, quality, and timing of protein intake while also focusing on the implementation of integrated, multidisciplinary intervention strategies to promote healthy aging among Korean older adults.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major respiratory disorder characterized by irreversible airflow limitation. The role of diet in the prevention and management of COPD is receiving increasing attention. This study aimed to examine the association between the composite intake of vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish and pulmonary function as well as COPD prevalence in a representative sample of Korean adults aged ≥ 40 years using data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Higher vegetable intake was associated with significantly better pulmonary function parameters, including forced vital capacity (p < 0.001), forced vital capacity percent predicted (p = 0.050), forced expiratory volume (FEV) in 1 second (FEV1; p < 0.001), FEV1 percent predicted (p = 0.038), FEV in 6 seconds (p < 0.001), and peak expiratory flow (p < 0.001). Furthermore, individuals with a high combined intake of vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish demonstrated a 0.261-fold lower COPD prevalence than those without such intake (p = 0.039). The dietary inflammatory index (DII) was significantly lower among participants without COPD than among those with COPD (mean DII = −3.6947, p = 0.002), indicating that a diet rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients can help reduce COPD risk. These findings suggest that vegetable consumption supports improved respiratory function, and a composite dietary pattern incorporating various food groups may help reduce the prevalence of COPD in the adult population.
A food exchange list is a tool developed to help diabetic patients control their energy intake and plan balanced meals. Korean food exchange lists were first developed in 1988, revised in 1995, and updated again in 2010. With rapidly changing dietary habits and increasing demand for diverse food cultures, the Korean Diabetes Association in cooperation with 4 related organizations established a Task Force Team (TFT) to revise food exchange lists in March 2022. Starting with a workshop, TFT held 11 official revision meetings, culminating in a public hearing in May 2023. The final revised version of Korean food exchange lists was published in December 2023. Key outcomes of the revision are summarized as follows: 1. Based on the National Standard Food Composition Table 10.0 database, the existing classification system and nutrient standards for each food group remain unchanged this time. 2. Based on a survey conducted among diabetes educators, the number of items on the food exchange lists has increased from 339 in 2010 to 435 this time. 3. Considering patients’ usual eating habits, meal planning examples were developed distributing food group exchange units by energy level based on 3 types of proportions of carbohydrate energy (40%–45%, 50%–55%, 60%–65%). 4. Due to limitations in real-time updates for rapidly changing information, detailed guidance on how to access and interpret the data is provided. These revisions will help people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels and facilitate the implementation of healthy meal planning in various other conditions, including obesity.
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The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its cost are increasing due to lifestyle changes and aging. This study aimed to develop a deep neural network model for prediction and classification of MetS according to nutrient intake and other MetS-related factors. This study included 17,848 individuals aged 40–69 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013–2018). We set MetS (3–5 risk factors present) as the dependent variable and 52 MetS-related factors and nutrient intake variables as independent variables in a regression analysis. The analysis compared and analyzed model accuracy, precision and recall by conventional logistic regression, machine learning-based logistic regression and deep learning. The accuracy of train data was 81.2089, and the accuracy of test data was 81.1485 in a MetS classification and prediction model developed in this study. These accuracies were higher than those obtained by conventional logistic regression or machine learning-based logistic regression. Precision, recall, and F1-score also showed the high accuracy in the deep learning model. Blood alanine aminotransferase (β = 12.2035) level showed the highest regression coefficient followed by blood aspartate aminotransferase (β = 11.771) level, waist circumference (β = 10.8555), body mass index (β = 10.3842), and blood glycated hemoglobin (β = 10.1802) level. Fats (cholesterol [β = −2.0545] and saturated fatty acid [β = −2.0483]) showed high regression coefficients among nutrient intakes. The deep learning model for classification and prediction on MetS showed a higher accuracy than conventional logistic regression or machine learning-based logistic regression.
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Hypertension is a major health issues globally. Multiple genetic and environmental factors are involved in hypertension etiology. Solute carrier family 35 member F3 (SLC35F3) is a type of transporter uptakes thiamin across the cellular and mitochondrial membrane. Recent studies suggested that variations in
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Oxidative stress in eye lens is one of the main causes of the cataract. Dietary antioxidants including vitamin A and C are therefore known to be associated with the risk of the disease. However, evidences are still lacking in Koreans. This study aimed to examine whether dietary vitamin A and C levels are associated with the cataract, using data of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012. A total of 3,344 individuals (599 cases and 2,745 controls) were analyzed in the study. Dietary data was classified into 3 groups following Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans 2015: 1) ≤ estimated average requirements (EAR), 2) EAR-recommended nutrient intake (RNI), and 3) ≥ RNI. Findings suggested normal subjects (controls) had better vitamin A and C nutritional status. Vitamin A and C intakes of normal subjects were significantly higher than those of cataract cases (p < 0.001, respectively). Ratio of subjects who consumed vitamin A and C lower than EAR was higher in cataract cases compared to normal subjects (p < 0.001, respectively). These antioxidant intake levels predicted that having lower level of vitamins lower than EAR increased the odd ratios (ORs) for cataract [for vitamin A: OR, 1.89; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.55–2.31 and for vitamin C: OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.69–2.51]. However, such associations were not retained, when the subjects’ demographic and lifestyle factor were adjusted. In conclusion, vitamin A and C showed a protective effect against cataract. However, subjects' life style and demographic factors nullified the association. More studies are required to verify the true association between dietary antioxidants and risk of cataract in Koreans.
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Calcium intake is essential for bone health, but young Korean women have low calcium intakes. Seaweeds have high calcium content, which may affect calcium metabolism. Twenty nine females aged 18–39 years with low calcium intake (< 400 mg/day) participated in a 19-day open-label randomized controlled trial. During the first five days, participants adhered to a controlled-feeding protocol followed by a two-week supplementation period in free-living conditions. The treatment group (n = 14) received an additional 200 mg Ca/day through
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An increase in the prevalence of dyslipidemia has been strongly associated with the mortality rate of cardiovascular disease. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to determine the relationship between dietary patterns and dyslipidemia in adult men aged 40–64 years. A total of 5,643 subjects from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) were selected for the final analysis. We analyzed 24-hour dietary recall data. Using principal component analysis, 3 dietary patterns were identified: rice based Korean food pattern, flour based western dietary pattern, and convenience food dietary pattern. The flour based western dietary pattern was significantly and positively associated with total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p for trend < 0.05). With regard to the rice based Korean food pattern, the group with the highest factor score had a significantly lower risk of hyper LDL cholesterolemia (odds ratio [OR], 0.802; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.698–0.922) and high total cholesterol levels (OR, 0.868; 95% CI, 0.761–0.990) than the group with the lowest factor score. For the flour based western dietary pattern the group with the highest factor score showed a significantly high risk of hyper LDL cholesterolemia (OR, 1.189; 95% CI, 1.033–1.367; p for trend < 0.05) than the group with the lowest factor score. Our results showed that the rice based Korean food pattern protected against dyslipidemia. In contrast, the western staple pattern, which is rich in flour and processed foods, was independently associated with dyslipidemia in urban male residents of Korea.
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This study attempted to investigate whether nutrient and food intake were related with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in adults and elderly over 50 years of age in Korea. Questionnaires and anthropometric measurements were conducted on general aspects of the research, and food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) were conducted to determine nutritional status. The relative theta power (RTP) through electroencephalography (EEG) measurements, neurocognitive function test (NFT; CNS Vital Signs), and cognitive function was measured. The MCI group consumed significantly lower C18:4, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) among the N-3 fatty acids, N-6 fatty acids dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA), mono unsaturated fatty acids, C22:1, biotin, vitamin D in the nutrients, and sweet potato (12.35g/day, p = 0.015), mackerel (3.38g/day, p = 0.017), mandarin orange (p = 0.016), persimmon (p = 0.013) and apple (p = 0.023) in the food than the normal group did. And the MCI group consumed salted fish (3.14g/day, p = 0.041) and ice-cream (5.01g/day, p = 0.050) at a significantly higher level. Delayed verbal score, delayed visual score, and verbal memory score of the NFT and RTP values of the prefrontal cortex among the EEGs were significantly lower in the MCI group compared to those in the normal group. From this study, we found that nutrient and food intake are closely related to MCI in Korean aged 50 years and older, but more human studies are needed to verify these findings.
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The dietary behavior of immigrants starts changing upon their arrival in a new country. We evaluated changes in dietary quality of Vietnamese women immigrants in Korea and compared dietary quality with that of Korean women. Fifty-six Vietnamese women immigrants and 56 age-matched Korean women were recruited. Dietary quality were assessed using index of nutritional quality (INQ) and diet quality index-international (DQI-I). Dietary habits were assessed according to 4 dietary behaviors: a prudent, calorie control, dietary fat control, and sodium or salt control diet. DQI-I scores of Vietnamese immigrants decreased after immigration, especially the moderation score, although the variety score increased. Scores were significantly lower than those of Korean subjects (45.1 vs. 64.5; p < 0.001). Vietnamese women immigrants had significantly poorer nutrient balance and calorie intake control, although their fat and sodium control was better than that of Korean woman (p < 0.001). INQs of protein, niacin, phosphorus, iron, zinc were lower in immigrants who had lived longer in Korea than more recent immigrants (p < 0.05). Lower INQs of protein, fiber, vitamin A, B1, B6, C, folate, and phosphorus were related to higher body fat in Vietnamese immigrants (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary quality of Vietnamese immigrants decreased after migration, and dietary intake was inadequate compared with that of Korean women. In addition, diet quality of Vietnamese immigrants decreased with length of residence in Korea. There was a negative correlation between diet quality and body fat percent in Vietnamese women immigrants. Findings from this study may help improve diet quality and prevent obesity in Vietnam women immigrants.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the association between macronutrient composition and metabolic syndrome (MetS) incidence in Korean adults. Data were obtained from a cohort of 10,030 members aged 40 to 69 years who were enrolled from the 2 cities (Ansung and Ansan) between 2001 and 2002 to participate in the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study. Of these members, 5,565 participants, who were free of MetS and reported no diagnosis of cardiovascular disease at baseline, were included in this study. MetS was defined using the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III and Asia-Pacific criteria for waist circumference. MetS incidence rate were identified during a 2-year follow-up period. Baseline dietary information was obtained using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between the quartiles of percentages of total calorie from macronutrients consumed and MetS incidence. In analyses, baseline information, including age, sex, body mass index, income status, educational status, smoking status, alcohol drinking status, and physical activity level was considered as confounding variables. Participants with the second quartile of the percentages of carbohydrate calorie (67%–70%) had a 23% reduced odds ratio (95% confidence interval, 0.61–0.97) for MetS incidence compared with those with the fourth quartile after adjusting for confounding variables. The findings suggest that middle aged or elderly Korean adults who consume approximately 67%–70% of calorie from carbohydrate have a reduced risk of MetS.
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In this study, we investigated whether the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with telomere length (TL) were associated with the incidence of hypertension (HTN)/coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular risk factors in the Korean population. Data from 5,705 (ages 39–70) participants in the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study (rural Ansung and urban Ansan cohorts) were studied. Twelve SNPs known to be associated with telomere biology were tested for an association with HTN/CHD. As results, no significant associations were found between the selected TL-related SNPs and prevalence of HTN and CHD. Among non-alcohol users, subjects with minor alleles in rs1269304 and rs10936601 (
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This study was conducted to validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess vitamin K intake in clinical and research settings based on data from the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V). We collected a subset of data on informative food items using the 24-hour recall method from adults aged 19 to 64 years from KNHANES V. The cumulative percent contribution and cumulative multiple regression coefficients for vitamin K intake from each food were computed. Twenty-five foods items were selected for the FFQ to assess vitamin K intake. The FFQ was validated against intakes derived from a 5-day food record (5DR) (n = 48). To assess the reliability of the FFQ, participants completed the self-administered FFQ (FFQ1) and a second FFQ (FFQ2) after a 6-month period (n = 54). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients, the cross-classification method, and Bland-Altman plots. Mean intakes were similar for vitamin K between the FFQ and dietary records, with significant correlations observed (r = 0.652), and cross-classification analyses demonstrated no major misclassification of participants into intake quartiles. Bland-Altman plots showed no serious systematic bias between the administrations of the two dietary assessment methods over the range of mean intakes. FFQ reliability was high, with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.560. This pilot study shows promising validation and reliability evidence for the use of this FFQ, which is focused on vitamin K intake in adults, as an efficient screening tool in clinical and research settings.
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Korean red ginseng (steam treated Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), among most prized traditional herbal remedies, has been clinically shown to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Whether this holds true for the dried non-steamed variety, known as Korean white ginseng (KWG) is unclear. This study therefore, investigated the efficacy and safety of escalating doses of KWG on vascular and glycemic parameters in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Using an acute, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover design, 25 participants with well-controlled T2DM (12-males: 13-females, age: 63 ± 9 years, A1c: 6.9 ± 0.7%, BMI: 29.3 ± 4.3 kg/m2) underwent five visits during which they received 1 g, 3 g, or 6 g KWG or 3 g wheat-bran control (twice) together with 50 g-glucose load. For the duration of 240 minutes, augmentation index (AI), and central blood pressure were measured at baseline and at 60 min-intervals, and ambulatory blood pressure was assessed at baseline and at 10 min-intervals. Additionally, capillary blood was collected at time zero and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes post-treatment. A symptoms questionnaire was used to assess safety and adverse events. Two-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant time-treatment interaction effect on AI (p = 0.01) with one-way ANOVA showing significant reductions in AI with 3 g KWG relative to control (p = 0.04). Compared to control, acute administration of KWG appeared to be safe, but did not affect any other postprandial, vascular or glycemic parameters. KWG might have a beneficial effect on AI, a cumulative indicator of arterial health. However, these results are preliminary and highlight the need for long-term investigation with a focus on its accountable components. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT01699074
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