title: Filipino women's diet and health study (FiLWHEL): design and methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immigration to South Korea from neighboring Asian countries has risen dramatically, primarily due to marriage between Korean men and foreign women. Although Filipino women rank fourth among married immigrant women, little is known about the health condition of this population. This manuscript focuses on the design and methods of Filipino women's diet and health study (FiLWHEL).
  
  
  METHODS
  FiLWHEL is a cohort of Filipino women married to Korean men, aged 19 years old or over. The data collection comprised three parts: questionnaire, physical examination, and biospecimen collection. Questionnaires focused on demographic factors, diet, other health-related behaviors, acculturation and immigration-related factors, medical history, quality of life, and children's health information. Participants visited the recruitment site and answered the structured questionnaires through a face-to-face interview. We also measured their anthropometric features and collected fasting blood samples, toenails, and DNA samples. Recruitment started in 2014.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Collection of data is ongoing, and we plan to prospectively follow our cohort participants. We expect that our study, which is focused on married Filipino women immigrants, can elucidate nutritional/health status and the effects of transitional experiences from several lifestyle factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 04310, Korea.
authors.forename: Grace P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Abris
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Gyeonggi 18450, Korea.
authors.forename: Sangmo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 04310, Korea.
authors.forename: Sherlyn Mae P
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Provido
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hanyang University School of Medicine, 153, Gyeongchun-ro, Guri City, Gyeonggi 11923, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Beom
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Filipino woman; Korea; Married immigrant; health