Association between beverage intake and obesity in children: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2013-2015.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Numerous researches have studied the association between sugar intake and obesity of children in many countries. This study was undertaken to investigate the association between beverage intake and obesity of children by reviewing a database for total sugar contents established in all foods and presented in a nutrition survey by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data of 1,520 children aged 6-11 years in the 6th KNHANES (2013-2015) were analyzed for this study. A database for total sugar intake comprises the total sugar contents of all foods included in the results of a nutrition survey using the 24-hour recall method of 6th KNHANES. Beverages were categorized into carbonated beverages, fruit & vegetable drinks, other drinks, tea, and coffee. RESULTS: The average daily beverage intake of all children was 131.75 g/day, and the average daily total sugar intake in beverages was 13.76 g/day. Carbonated beverages had the highest intake rate (58.85 g/day) and also ranked highest for sugar intake (6.36 g/day). After adjusting for confounding variables, the odds ratio for obesity in children with beverage intake of ≥ 200 mL/day significantly increased by 1.83 times (95% CI, 1.11-3.00) as compared to children with beverage intake of < 200 mL/day. Also, a significant increase was observed in the odds ratio for obesity in total children (2.41 times; 95% CI, 1.35-4.33) and boys (3.15 times; 95% CI, 1.53-6.49) with carbonated beverage intake of ≥ 200 mL/day when compared with children who consumed < 200 mL/day. CONCLUSION: A positive association is observed between beverage intake and obesity in Korean children. In particular, an intake of carbonated beverages has a positive correlation with childhood obesity in boys. This study can therefore be used as scientific evidence for reducing sugar, and for the continuous management and research on beverages.

Survey of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine products in Korea using GC/MS.

This study investigates polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in marine products on the Korean market. A total of 280 samples of fish (n = 100), shellfish (n = 80), cephalopod (n = 60) and crustacea (n = 40) were collected for analyses of PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and benzo[g,h,i]perylene). The analytical procedure was based on the matrix solid-phase dispersion on Florisil cartridges and extraction with hexane/dichloromethane (3:1, v/v). The PAHs were determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection using selective ion monitoring. Average recoveries for all the PAHs studied were in the range 58-79%. The sum of 16 PAHs concentrations in fish, shellfish, cephalopod/crustacea were in the range 0.2-0.5, 1.2-1.6 and 0.8-1.9 µg/kg, respectively.

Increased antimutagenic and anticlastogenic effects of doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste) prepared with bamboo salt.

The kind of salt used in doenjang preparation is one of the most important factors that affect the chemopreventive activities of doenjang. Bamboo salt (BS) is known to exert various therapeutic effects on several diseases. In this study, antimutagenic and anticlastogenic effects of methanol extracts of doenjang made with either one-time heat-treated BS (BS1-D), nine-times heat-treated BS (BS9-D), sun-dried salt (SDS-D), or purified salt (PS-D) using the Ames test and micronucleus test. BS1-D and BS9-D showed higher inhibitory effects than PS-D and SDS-D on mutagenicity induced by aflatoxin B(1), N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide. BS1-D exerted more suppressive effects on chromosome aberration than SDS-D on mitomycin C-induced micronucleus in mice. It can be concluded that the chemopreventive effect of doenjang was significantly increased by using BS instead of the more typical commercial salts, SDS and PS (P < .05). This is probably due to the changes in the chemical and physical properties of the salt, especially increased content of K and P, during the processing of BS and to differences in fermented products formed during the doenjang fermentation in the presence of BS.