title: Child health promotion program in South Korea in collaboration with US National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Improvement in dietary and nutrition knowledge of young children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. Development of effective and sustainable programs to promote healthy behaviors from a young age is important. This study developed and tested an intervention program designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity among young children in South Korea by adaptation of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mission X (MX) Program.
  
  
  METHODS
  The intervention program consisted of 4 weeks of fitness and 2 weeks of nutrition education. A sample of 104 subjects completed pre- and post-surveys on the Children's Nutrition Acknowledgement Test (NAT). Parents were asked for their children's characteristics and two 24-hour dietary records, the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) at baseline and a 6-week follow-up. Child weight status was assessed using Korean body mass index (BMI) percentiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, 16.4% (boy: 15.4%; girl: 19.2%) of subjects were overweight or obese (based on BMI≥85%tile). Fat consumption significantly decreased in normal BMI children (48.6 ± 16.8 g at baseline to 41.9 ± 18.1 g after intervention,P< 0.05); total NQ score significantly increased from 66.4 to 67.9 (P< 0.05); total NAT score significantly improved in normal BMI children (74.3 at baseline to 81.9 after the program), children being underweight (from 71.0 to 77.0), and overweight children (77.1 at baseline vs. 88.2 after intervention,P< 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 6-week South Korean NASA MX project is feasible and shows favorable changes in eating behaviors and nutritional knowledge among young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Nutrition, Research Institute of Medical Nutrition, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunjung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Nutrition, Research Institute of Medical Nutrition, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Korea.
authors.forename: JiEun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Systems-oriented Global Childhood Obesity Intervention Program, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 816 Kimball Tower, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA.
authors.forename: Youfa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Systems-oriented Global Childhood Obesity Intervention Program, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 816 Kimball Tower, Buffalo, NY 14214-8001, USA.; Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, Seoul 06750, Korea.
authors.forename: Jungwon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: MEI Technologies, NASA Information Technology and Multimedia Services contract, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Nubia A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Carvajal
authors.affiliation: Johnson Space Center, Human Research Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Houston, TX 77058, USA.
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lloyd
keywords: Child; South Korea; nutrition; obesity; prevention