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High salt intake is known as a risk factor of childhood obesity. As family members share not only genes but also their diet habit, parents' salt intake may affect to their children's obesity. In this study, we investigated correlations between childhood obesity and parents' or children's sodium intakes based on a nationwide survey data. From the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2014 to 2017, 802 boys and 657 girls aged 10-18 years, and their parents were included. BMI z-score and 24-hour urinary sodium excretion, which is estimated through Tanaka's equation, were used to examine associations between obesity and sodium intakes. The BMI status and the prevalence of obesity between children and their parents showed strong positive correlations in both sexes (all p < 0.001). The urinary sodium excretion between children and their parents showed positive correlations in both sexes (all p < 0.05). Children with higher urinary sodium excretion showed higher BMI (in both sexes, p < 0.001) and higher parental obesity compared to those with lower urinary sodium excretion, however, statistical significances of the latter relationship were varied by sex. In conclusion, our study suggests close relationship between childhood obesity and their sodium intakes, which also correlate well with parental BMIs and diet behavior. Therefore, parental education and active participation could be crucial in regulating childhood obesity.

Objectives: Makorin ring finger protein 3 (MKRN3) is associated with the initiation of puberty, and loss of function mutation of MKRN3 is the most common genetic cause of central precocious puberty (CPP). A recent study reported that MKRN3 interacts with and suppresses neural pentraxin-1 precursor (NPTX1) activity via polyubiquitination during early puberty in the mouse hypothalamus. This study investigated the correlation between serum NPTX1 and MKRN3 in CPP girls and predicted the potential role of NPTX1 in pubertal progression., Methods: In this case-control study, we examined 34 girls diagnosed with CPP and 34 healthy prepubertal girls. Anthropometric and hormonal parameters were measured and serum levels of NPTX1 and MKRN3 were evaluated with commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits., Results: Serum MKRN3 level decreased significantly in CPP patients compared to controls (344.48 ± 333.77 and 1295.21 ± 780.80 pg/mL, respectively, p<0.001). Serum MKRN3 tended to decrease as Tanner breast stage increased. However, no significant difference was observed in serum NPTX1 levels between patients and controls (20.14 ± 31.75 ng/mL and 12.93 ± 8.28 ng/mL, respectively, p=0.248). The serum level of NPTX1 did not change significantly with the Tanner breast stage. Serum NPTX1 was correlated with the height standard deviation score (r=0.255; p<0.05), but was not correlated with serum MKRN3 level or the others. Conclusion: Although serum NPTX1 level was independent of serum MKRN3 level, the possibility they might be involved in the progression of puberty or CPP remains. Further research is needed to determine their role in the hypothalamus., (© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Purpose: This study assessed the effectiveness of the Better Life After Cancer: Energy, Strength, and Support (BLESS) program, a 12-week social capital-based exercise adherence program for breast cancer survivors (BCS), regarding cancer-related fatigue (CRF), quality of life (QOL), physical activity, and psychosocial characteristics., Methods: Forty-eight BCS with moderate or high (≥ 4) CRF participated in this randomized control trial (intervention group n = 23, control group n = 25). The intervention group participated in small group sessions to activate social capital while targeting CRF in supervised physical exercises supplemented by home-based physical exercises. The control group was only given written information on exercise. A questionnaire was used to assess CRF, QOL, physical activity, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and social capital., Results: The majority of participants had undergone surgery less than 2 years ago. After participating in BLESS, the CRF behavioral/severity domain significantly decreased (t = 2.642, p = 0.011) and physical activity significantly increased (t = - 2.049, p = 0.046) in the intervention group, in comparison with the control group; there were no significant post-intervention differences in the control group. Both groups showed improvements in sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and QOL., Conclusion: The BLESS program decreased behavioral/severity in the CRF and increased physical activity after 12 weeks among BCS. Future research needs to evaluate whether the promising results on physical activity and behavioral fatigue observed in the short term will persist over time. Also, longer-term effects should be examined.

Purpose: We analyzed the nationwide longitudinal data to explore body mass index (BMI) growth trajectories and the time of adiposity rebound (AR)., Methods: Personal data of 84,005 subjects born between 2008 and 2012 were obtained from infant health check-ups which were performed at 5, 11, 21, 33, 45, 57, and 69 months. BMI trajectories of each subject were made according to sex and the timing of AR, which was defined as the lowest BMI occurred. Subjects were divided according to birth weight and AR timing as follows: very low birth weight (VLBW), 0.5 kg ≤ Bwt ≤ 1.5 kg; low birth weight (LBW), 1.5 kg < Bwt ≤ 2.5 kg; non-LBW, 2.5 kg < Bwt ≤ 5.0 kg; very early AR, before 45 months; early AR, at 57 months; and moderate-to-late AR, not until 69 months., Main Results: Median time point of minimum BMI was 45 months, and the prevalence rates of very early, early, and moderate-to-late AR were 63.0%, 16.6%, and 20.4%, respectively. BMI at the age of 57 months showed a strong correlation with AR timing after controlling for birth weight (P < 0.001). Sugar-sweetened beverage intake at 21 months (P = 0.02) and no-exercise habit at 57 months (P < 0.001) showed correlations with early AR. When VLBW and LBW subjects were analyzed, BMI at 57 months and breastfeeding at 11 months were correlated with rapid weight gain during the first 5 months (both P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Based on this first longitudinal study, the majority of children showed AR before 57 months and the degree of obesity at the age of 57 months had a close correlation with early AR or rapid weight gain during infancy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Purpose: In previous studies, there were debates on the association between handgrip strength (HGS) and prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Since body weight is associated with both HGS and prevalence of metabolic syndrome, whether HGS is corrected with body weight (relative HGS) or not (absolute HGS) can directly influence outcome of the study. Therefore, this study analyzed the relationship between HGS and prevalence of metabolic syndrome using both relative and absolute HGS. Methods: A total of 1009 Korean adults (488 men and 521 women) were analyzed. Participants were categorized into three groups according to HGS levels. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of metabolic syndrome associated with both relative and absolute HGS. Results: Lower absolute HGS was associated with lower prevalence of having abnormal blood pressure (OR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.37-0.97) and glucose levels (OR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.88) in men. However, no association was found between absolute HGS and prevalence of metabolic syndrome. However, a significant inverse association was found between relative HGS and prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Compared with participants in the highest tertile, those in the lowest tertile of relative HGS had 2.52 times (95% CI: 1.43-4.46) and 5.01 times (95% CI: 1.66-15.08) higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: Lower relative HGS but not absolute HGS was associated with higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Our study showed that there are evident discrepancies in the association between HGS and prevalence of metabolic syndrome whether HGS is corrected by body weight or not.

Background: Iodine is an important element for the synthesis of thyroid hormone, and its deficiency or excessive intake is associated with various thyroid diseases. Little is known about the association between iodine status and thyroid function among children and adolescents living in iodine-rich areas. Therefore, this study analyzed this association using data from a nationwide survey., Methods: From the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys VI (2013-2015) data, 1288 subjects (711 male) aged 6-19 years who underwent a urinary iodine concentration (UIC) test and 1000 subjects (564 male) aged 10-19 years who underwent a thyroid function test were included in this study. Serum levels of thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4), and thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) were analyzed. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) was defined as TSH >5.5 μIU/mL with a normal fT4 level. Median daily iodine intake was calculated from the UIC. Daily sodium intake was derived from the nutritional survey data of 1181 subjects., Results: The median UIC was 449 μg/L (range 15-21,905 μg/L), and the prevalence rates of UIC ≥300 μg/L and ≥1000 μg/L were 64.9% and 25.0%, respectively. The prevalence rates of a sodium intake >2000 mg/day and iodine intake >2400 μg/day were 75.0% (885/1181) and 12.7% (164/1288), respectively. The prevalence rates of SCH and TPOAb >34 IU/mL were 7.2% (72/1000) and 2.3% (23/1000), respectively. The prevalence of SCH was significantly higher in the iodine deficient and iodine excess groups compared to those in the UIC 100-299.9 μg/L group (p = 0.038). Therefore, there was a U-shaped and inverted U-shaped correlation between serum levels of TSH and fT4 with UIC, respectively. These correlations were especially prominent when UIC was >1000 μg/L. There was no definite correlation between TPOAb and UIC., Conclusions: Excess iodine was prevalent in Korean children and adolescents, and it may be associated with SCH. Therefore, monitoring the iodine status and education on adequate intake are needed in iodine-rich areas.

Objective: To investigate whether low vitamin D status was related to insulin resistance (IR) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in Korean adolescents, after adjusting for total body fat mass (FM)., Design: A cross-sectional study., Setting: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNAHNES) 2009-2010., Subjects: In total, 1466 participants (769 males) aged 10-19 years were assessed for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels, for FM by whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and for IR by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) after an 8 h fast., Results: Age-, sex-, season- and physical-activity-adjusted regression models showed that serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly related to markers of adiposity (P = 0.016 for FM (g), P = 0.023 for FM (%) and P = 0.035 for fat mass index). When the participants were stratified into three 25(OH)D categories (<37.5 nmol/l (n 553), 37.5 to < 50 nmol/l (n 543) and ≥ 50 nmol/l (n 370)), significantly decreasing trends were observed for fasting insulin (all P < 0.001), HOMA-IR (all P < 0.001) and the odds ratios for IFG (all P for trend < 0.05) from the lowest to the highest 25(OH)D category, after adjustments for age, sex, physical activity and all markers of adiposity. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the likelihood of participants in the lowest serum 25(OH)D category having IFG was 2.96-3.15 compared with those in the highest 25(OH)D category (all P < 0.05)., Conclusions: There was a significant inverse relationship between vitamin D status and IR and the risk of IFG, independent of adiposity, in Korean adolescents.