Obesity is exponentially increasing regardless of its preventable characteristics. The current measures for preventing obesity have failed to address the severity and prevalence of obesity, so alternative approaches based on nutritional and diet changes are attracting attention for the treatment of obesity. Fruit contains large amounts of simple sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc.), which are well known to induce obesity. Thus, considering the amount of simple sugars found in fruit, it is reasonable to expect that their consumption should contribute to obesity rather than weight reduction. However, epidemiological research has consistently shown that most types of fruit have anti-obesity effects. Thus, due to their anti-obesity effects as well as their vitamin and mineral contents, health organizations are suggesting the consumption of fruit for weight reduction purposes. These contradictory characteristics of fruit with respect to human body weight management motivated us to study previous research to understand the contribution of different types of fruit to weight management. In this review article, we analyze and discuss the relationships between fruit and their anti-obesity effects based on numerous possible underlying mechanisms, and we conclude that each type of fruit has different effects on body weight.

The objective of this study was to provide information regarding trends of rice consumption of Korean adults based on different meal types. Respondent reports 24-hour recall data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used to assess daily rice consumption and intake ratios of rice for different meal types and places of preparation. Rice intake had gradually decreased from 224.6 g in 1998 to 190 g in 2001 and to 179.4 g in 2005. The rice consumption of Korean adults decreased every year in all ages for all places of meal preparation in 2001 and 2005 compare to 1998. Analysis for each meal type showed that rice intake at breakfast had not considerably changed, but rice intake had decreased at lunch and dinner. While the rice consumption ratio at lunch and dinner decreased, it also decreased or did not change at snack times except for the 19-29 age groups. All the age groups revealed comparable change in the analysis for meal types. There was some diversity between all age divisions in daily rice intake depending on place of meal preparation. The rice consumption by place of meal preparation was generally highest at home, lowest at other places, but it decreased in all places. The rice consumption at home was highest in the over 50 age group, lowest in the 20-30 age group. These changes seem to be related to food intake patterns of rice and substitutional foods in the diets and development regarding socio-economic status. So the need for further study on differences in rice intake based on socioeconomic levels and age group are indicated.

This research analyzed the iron status, clinical symptoms and physical characteristics between normal and anemic group of middle school girls in the Ulsan metropolitan area. It was carried out with 237 subjects (normal 190, anemic subject 47). They were evaluated with a questionnaire and measurement of hematological indices. BMI (kg/m2) of the two groups were 19.54 ± 2.44 (normal girls) and 19.22 ± 2.27 (anemic girls). The hemoglobin concentration of the anemic girls were 10.84 ± 1.17g/dl and the serum iron of the anemic girls represent 35.15 ± 27.47 µg/100 ml. The TIBC (Total Iron Binding Capacity) of the anemic girls showed significantly high to 449.30 ± 64.87 µg/100 ml. The serum ferritin of the anemic girls was 20.53 ± 42.29 µg/ℓ, it represented significantly low. The symptom of 'pale face' of the anemic girls were higher than the normal girls. Hemoglobin and serum iron were negatively correlated with 'pale face'. The TIBC was negatively correlated with 'Get a cold easily'. The duration and amount of menstruation were correlated with iron status. This research is to be utilized as basic data for dietary support and nutritional education to improve their iron status.