Exploring parenting variables associated with sweetness preferences and sweets intake of children

Taejung Woo,Kyung-Hea Lee 한국영양학회 2019 Nutrition Research and Practice Vol.13 No.2

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Excessive sugar intake is one of the causes associated with obesity and several chronic diseases prevalent in the modern society. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of parenting variables based on the theory of planned behavior, on the sweetness preferences and sweets intake of children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Parents and their children (n = 103, aged 5-7 years) were enrolled to participate in a survey for this study, after providing the required informed consent. Parents were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire at their residence. The sweetness preference test for children was conducted at a kindergarten (or daycare center) by applying the one-on-one interview method. RESULTS: The children were divided into two clusters categorized by the K-mean cluster analysis: Cluster 1 had higher sweetness preference (0.42 M sugar, 35%; 0.61 M sugar, 65%); Cluster 2 exhibited lower sweetness preference (0.14 M sugar, 9.5%; 0.20 M sugar, 9.5%; 0.29 M sugar, 81%). Cluster 1 had a higher frequency of sweets intake (P < 0.01), and lower sweets restriction (P < 0.05) and nutrition quotient score (P < 0.05). Sweets intake was negatively correlated with the nutritional quotient (r = -0.204, P < 0.05). The behavioral intention of parents was higher in cluster 2 (P < 0.05), while affective attitude, feeding practice, and reward were higher in cluster 1 (P < 0.001, P < 0.05, and P < 0.01, respectively). Furthermore, behavioral intention of parents showed a negative correlation with affective attitude (r = -0.282, P < 0.01) and feeding practice (r = -0.380, P < 0.01), and a positive correlation with subjective norm (r = 0.203, P < 0.05) and parenting attitude (r = 0.433, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the sweetness preferences and sweets intake of children is related to the parent’s affective attitude, feeding practice and reward. We suggest that to reduce the sugar consumption of children, guidelines for access to sweets and pertinent parenting practices are required.

Factors affecting vegetable preference in adolescents

Taejung Woo,Kyung-Hea Lee 대한지역사회영양학회 2017 Nutrition Research and Practice Vol.11 No.4

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Despite the importance of consuming sufficient amounts of vegetables, daily vegetable intake among adolescents in Korea is lower than the current dietary recommendation. The objective of this study was to examine determinants affecting vegetable preference in order to suggest a stage-tailored education strategy that can promote vegetable consumption in adolescents. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Adolescents (n = 400, aged 16-17 years) from two high schools participated in a cross-sectional study. Survey variables were vegetable preference, the social cognitive theory (SCT) and stages of change (SOC) constructs. Based on vegetable preference, subjects were classified into two groups: a low-preference group (LPG) and a high-preference group (HPG). SOC was subdivided into pre-action and action/maintenance stages. To compare SCT components and SOC related to vegetable preference, chi-squared and t-tests, along with stepwise multiple-regression analysis, were applied. RESULTS: In the LPG, a similar number of subjects were classified into each stage. Significant differences in self-efficacy, affective attitudes, and vegetable accessibility at home and school were detected among the stages. Subjects in the HPG were mainly at the maintenance stage (81%), and there were significant differences among the stages regarding self-efficacy, affective attitudes, and parenting practice. In the predictions of vegetable preference, self-efficacy and parenting practice had a significant effect in the “pre-action” stage. In the action/maintenance stage, outcome expectation, affective attitudes, and vegetable accessibility at school had significant predictive value. In predicting the vegetable preference for all subjects, 42.8% of the predictive variance was accounted for by affective attitudes, self-efficacy, and vegetable accessibility at school. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that different determinants affect adolescent vegetable preference in each stage. Self-efficacy and affective attitudes are important determinants affecting vegetable preference. Additionally, school-based nutrition intervention that focuses on enhancing affective attitudes, self-efficacy, and vegetable exposure may constitute an effective education strategy for promoting vegetable consumption among adolescents.

Effects of sensory education based on classroom activities for lower grade school children

Taejung Woo,Kyung-Hea Lee 한국영양학회 2013 Nutrition Research and Practice Vol.7 No.4

This study is to verify the effects of sensory education based on classroom activities for 2<SUP>nd</SUP> and 3<SUP>rd</SUP> grade children. The hypothesis is that children who participated in sensory education would demonstrate positive changes in eating behaviors through sensory experiences. The sensory education program consists of 12 lessons. Twenty-six children were being recruited from one school in Changwon, Korea. Two control groups, one of which was the same age as the educated group and the other group of sixth graders, were selected by random sampling from the same school. Children answered a self-administered questionnaire. The parents (n = 20) of the children who participated in the program, took part in evaluating the program through self-administered questionnaires after the program ended. The questionnaire contained variables of general characteristics, education satisfaction, nutrition knowledge, eating attitude and behavior concerning unfamiliar foods. The score of nutrition knowledge was improved in educated children (P < 0.05). Food neophobia score towards unfamiliar foods (P < 0.05) was increased in educated children, but there are no changes in eating behaviors in all groups towards unfamiliar foods. In conclusion, sensory education is useful for having a positive eating attitude among children. Its consistent implementation could lead to healthier and well-balanced eating behaviors for children.

청소년 성별에 따른 식생활 인식과 권장 식행동 실천 비교

우태정(Taejung Woo),이혜진(Hye-Jin Lee),이경애(Kyoung Ae Lee),이승민(Seung Min Lee),이경혜(Kyung-Hea Lee) 대한지역사회영양학회 2016 대한지역사회영양학회지 Vol.21 No.2

BioFET 시뮬레이션을 위한 CUDA 기반 병렬 Bi-CG 행렬 해법

박태정(Taejung Park),우준명(Jun-Myung Woo),김창헌(Chang-Hun Kim) 大韓電子工學會 2011 電子工學會論文誌-CI (Computer and Information) Vol.48 No.1

본 연구에서는 연산 부하가 매우 큰 Bio-FET 시뮬레이션을 위해 낮은 비용으로 대규모 병렬처리 환경 구축이 가능한 최신그래픽 프로세서(GPU)를 이용해서 선형 방정식 해법을 수행하기 위한 병렬 Bi-CG(Bi-Conjugate Gradient) 방식을 제안한다. 제안하는 병렬 방식에서는 반도체 소자 시뮬레이션, 전산유체역학(CFD), 열전달 시뮬레이션 등을 포함한 다양한 분야에서 많은 연산량이 집중되어 전체 시뮬레이션에 필요한 시간을 증가시키는 포아송(Poisson) 방정식의 해를 병렬 방식으로 구한다. 그 결과, 이 논문의 테스트에서 사용된 FDM 3차원 문제 공간에서 단일 CPU 대비 연산 속도가 최대 30 배 이상 증가했다. 실제 구현은 NVIDIA의 테슬라 아키텍처(Tesla Architecture) 기반 GPU에서 범용 목적으로 병렬 프로그래밍이 가능한 NVIDIA사의 CUDA(Compute Unified Device Architecture) 환경에서 수행되었으며 기존 연구가 주로 32 비트 정밀도(single floating point) 실수 범위에서 수행된 것과는 달리 본 연구는 64 비트 정밀도(double floating point) 실수 범위로 수행되어 Bi-CG 해법의 수렴성을 개선했다. 특히, CUDA는 비교적 코딩이 쉬운 반면, 최적화가 어려운 특성이 있어 본 논문에서는 제안하는 Bi-CG 해법에서의 최적화 방향도 논의한다. We present a parallel bi-conjugate gradient (Bi-CG) matrix solver for large scale Bio-FET simulations based on recent graphics processing units (GPUs) which can realize a large-scale parallel processing with very low cost. The proposed method is focused on solving the Poisson equation in a parallel way, which requires massive computational resources in not only semiconductor simulation, but also other various fields including computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer simulations. As a result, our solver is around 30 times faster than those with traditional methods based on single core CPU systems in solving the Possion equation in a 3D FDM (Finite Difference Method) scheme. The proposed method is implemented and tested based on NVIDIA's CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) environment which enables general purpose parallel processing in GPUs. Unlike other similar GPU-based approaches which apply usually 32-bit single-precision floating point arithmetics, we use 64-bit double-precision operations for better convergence. Applications on the CUDA platform are rather easy to implement but very hard to get optimized performances. In this regard, we also discuss the optimization strategy of the proposed method.

전통식품 기호증진을 위한 초등학생용 미각교육교재 및 지도서 개발

우태정 (Woo,Taejung ),이경혜 (Lee,Kyung-Hea ) 韓國營養學會 2011 Journal of Nutrition and Health Vol.44 No.4

The purpose of this study was to develop a textbook and teaching guidebook on sensory education for lower grade students at elementary schools. The goal of sensory education was to improve preferences for traditional Korean foods. An advisory committee was organized that was composed of 8 professionals in the education field, in order to discuss the adequacy and validity of the textbook’s content. The textbook’s units consisted of three parts composed of the following: ‘feel by the five senses’ (2 lessons), ‘enjoying traditional Korean foods’ (9 lessons), and ‘eating together’ (1 lesson). The lesson activities were based on experiential learning. The teacher’s guidebook contained an overview of the education process, with specific information and practical guidelines for each lesson. Ninety-seven children in 3rd grade from one school participated in a pilot lesson, which evaluated the educational effects and satisfaction. After the lesson, the children had improved preferences for foods which were taught about in the class, along with better eating attitudes. These results reflect that the developed materials were suitable for improving children’s preferences toward traditional Korean foods. (Korean J Nutr 2011 44(4): 303 ~ 311)

초등학교 2학년 일부 아동의 단맛 선호와 동기 요인과의 관련성

우태정,이경혜,Woo, Taejung,Lee, Kyung-Hea 한국식품영양학회 2014 韓國食品營養學會誌 Vol.27 No.3

This study was implemented to understand the motivation factors for $2^{nd}$ grade schoolchildren that effect on their preference for the sweet taste. The subjects included were 118 children (59 boys and 59 girls) and 118 children's guardians, from one elementary school. Children participated in sweet preference test and questionnaire survey with researcher's guidance provided in the school. Children's guardians were asked to fill out the questionnaire via home-letters. The results were as follows: 59% of the children preferred the cocoa beverage with the highest concentration of sugar among five cocoa beverages (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% of sucrose/milk volume). The variables consisted of affective attitude, cognitive attitude, self-efficacy, parenting style, and sweets frequency. According to the analysis, sweet preferences were correlated with children's affective attitude (r=-0.207, p<0.01), self-efficacy (r=-0.288, p<0.01), frequency of drinking carbonated beverage (r=0.272, p<0.01), preference for yogurt (r=0.184, p<0.05), and preference for sweet bread (r=0.226, p<0.05). These results indicated that children can be more affected by affective attitude than cognitive attitude, and self-efficacy can be an important motivation factor to control the eating behavior related to sweets. Therefore, nutrition educators need to focus on developing various methods related to increasing self-efficacy for encouraging and motivating healthy eating behavior in children.

Comparison of sweetness preference and motivational factors between Koreanand Japanese children

Takemi, Yukari,Woo, Taejung 한국영양학회 2017 Journal of Nutrition and Health Vol.50 No.2

Comparison of sweetness preference and motivational factors between Korean and Japanese children

Takemi, Yukari,Woo, Taejung 한국영양학회 2017 Journal of Nutrition and Health Vol.50 No.1

Purpose: This study was performed to examine motivational factors affecting sweetness preference in Korean and Japanese children. We identified meaningful variables that could be targeted to nutrition education interventions designed to overcome innate barriers and reduce sweetness preference and sweet food intake in Korean and Japanese children. Methods: Questionnaire surveys and sweetness preference test were conducted to examine variables affecting behavioral intention (BI) regarding sweetness preference. Questionnaire variables were based on the theory of planned behavior. Participants were recruited from one urban school from each country. In total, 166 children (mean age: 8.4 years) and their guardians (n = 166) participated in the study. A trained research assistant provided all children with personal guidance regarding completion of the sweetness preference test and survey questionnaire at school. The data were analyzed using Pearson"s correlation coefficients, t tests, repeated measure ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression analysis (significance level: p < 0.05). Results: Perceived behavioral control (PBC) and parenting practice were significantly associated with BI in both groups. Motivation to comply affected BI only in Japanese children, whereas affective attitude was associated with BI only in Korean children. In predicting sweetness preference, BI was associated only in Japanese children, whereas sweets consumption frequency had a significant effect in Korean children. Conclusion: The study shows similarities and differences in motivational factors, which could be considered when developing nutrition education programs in Korea and Japan. PBC and parenting practice were common factors in predicting BI. In predicting sweetness preference, BI had a significant effect on Japanese children, whereas sweets consumption frequency was the greatest contributor in Korean children.

Anti-Melanogenic Effect of Cannabis sativa Stem Extracts Fermented with Weissella paramesenteroides

Kim Taehyun,Kim Jin-Woo,Min Huitae,Park Jisu,Kim Taejung,Kim Geun-Hyeong,Park Byung-Joon,Kim Jeong Kook,Park Young-Tae,Kim Jin-Chul,Ham Jungyeob 한국미생물·생명공학회 2023 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.51 No.3

Cannabis sativa (CS) has been in the spotlight not only for its medical uses but also as a raw material for cosmetics. As fermented cosmetics are known to have various health benefits, they have been extensively researched. Here, we investigated the characteristics of CS stems fermented using various gut microbes. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay and melanin content analysis revealed that melan-a cells containing CS stems fermented with Weissella paramesenteroides (CSWP) showed considerably reduced melanin content. Additionally, CSWP downregulated the expression of several melanogenesis factors, tyrosinase-related protein-1, and tyrosinase-related protein-2. This study suggests that the anti-melanogenic effect of CSWP could provide a new basis for the development of skinlightening agents.