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Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea

Previous cross-sectional studies showed that immigrants from low-income to high-income countries have higher risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We investigated the association between weight gain during the resettlement in South Korea and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) a...

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Autores principales: Kim, Yoon Jung, Lee, Yo Han, Lee, Yun Jeong, Kim, Kyeong Jin, Kim, Sin Gon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8394171/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444226
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168479
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author Kim, Yoon Jung
Lee, Yo Han
Lee, Yun Jeong
Kim, Kyeong Jin
Kim, Sin Gon
author_facet Kim, Yoon Jung
Lee, Yo Han
Lee, Yun Jeong
Kim, Kyeong Jin
Kim, Sin Gon
author_sort Kim, Yoon Jung
collection PubMed
description Previous cross-sectional studies showed that immigrants from low-income to high-income countries have higher risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We investigated the association between weight gain during the resettlement in South Korea and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among North Korean refugees (NKRs) in this cross-sectional study. In total, 932 NKRs aged 20–80 years in South Korea voluntarily underwent health examination from 2008 to 2017. We compared the risk of MetS and its components between the weight gain group (gained ≥5 kg) and the non-weight gain group (gained <5 kg, maintained or lost body weight) during resettlement in South Korea after defection from North Korea. Multiple logistic regression analysis predicted odds ratio of MetS on the basis of weight change, adjusting for covariates and current body mass index (BMI). We also evaluated the difference in body composition of NKRs between two groups. The prevalence of MetS in the weight gain group was 26%, compared to 10% in the non-weight gain group (p-value < 0.001). The weight gain group had a two-fold higher risk of MetS than the non-weight gain group after adjusting for current BMI (odds ratio 1.875, p-value = 0.045). The prevalence of central obesity, impaired fasting glucose, elevated blood pressure, and hypertriglyceridemia were higher in the weight gain group than the non-weight gain group (36% vs. 12%, p-value < 0.001; 32% vs. 19%, p-value < 0.001; 34 vs. 25%, p-value = 0.008; 19% vs. 13%, p-value = 0.025, respectively). The analysis of body composition showed that the percentage of body fat in the weight gain group was higher than in the non-weight gain group, indicating increased fat mass rather than muscle mass in the weight gain group as their body weight increased during resettlement (33.4 ± 6.53% vs. 28.88 ± 7.40%, p < 0.005). Excess weight gain after defection from North Korea increased the risk of MetS among NKRs in South Korea. It is necessary to monitor weight change among NKRs and their effect on their metabolic health in the long term.
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spelling pubmed-83941712021-08-28 Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea Kim, Yoon Jung Lee, Yo Han Lee, Yun Jeong Kim, Kyeong Jin Kim, Sin Gon Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Previous cross-sectional studies showed that immigrants from low-income to high-income countries have higher risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We investigated the association between weight gain during the resettlement in South Korea and risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among North Korean refugees (NKRs) in this cross-sectional study. In total, 932 NKRs aged 20–80 years in South Korea voluntarily underwent health examination from 2008 to 2017. We compared the risk of MetS and its components between the weight gain group (gained ≥5 kg) and the non-weight gain group (gained <5 kg, maintained or lost body weight) during resettlement in South Korea after defection from North Korea. Multiple logistic regression analysis predicted odds ratio of MetS on the basis of weight change, adjusting for covariates and current body mass index (BMI). We also evaluated the difference in body composition of NKRs between two groups. The prevalence of MetS in the weight gain group was 26%, compared to 10% in the non-weight gain group (p-value < 0.001). The weight gain group had a two-fold higher risk of MetS than the non-weight gain group after adjusting for current BMI (odds ratio 1.875, p-value = 0.045). The prevalence of central obesity, impaired fasting glucose, elevated blood pressure, and hypertriglyceridemia were higher in the weight gain group than the non-weight gain group (36% vs. 12%, p-value < 0.001; 32% vs. 19%, p-value < 0.001; 34 vs. 25%, p-value = 0.008; 19% vs. 13%, p-value = 0.025, respectively). The analysis of body composition showed that the percentage of body fat in the weight gain group was higher than in the non-weight gain group, indicating increased fat mass rather than muscle mass in the weight gain group as their body weight increased during resettlement (33.4 ± 6.53% vs. 28.88 ± 7.40%, p < 0.005). Excess weight gain after defection from North Korea increased the risk of MetS among NKRs in South Korea. It is necessary to monitor weight change among NKRs and their effect on their metabolic health in the long term. MDPI 2021-08-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8394171/ /pubmed/34444226 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168479 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kim, Yoon Jung
Lee, Yo Han
Lee, Yun Jeong
Kim, Kyeong Jin
Kim, Sin Gon
Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title_full Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title_fullStr Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title_full_unstemmed Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title_short Weight Gain Predicts Metabolic Syndrome among North Korean Refugees in South Korea
title_sort weight gain predicts metabolic syndrome among north korean refugees in south korea
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8394171/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444226
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168479
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