This study examined the socioeconomic factors that affect self-rated health (SRH) in healthy adults, and the relationship of SRH to health-related habits, serum biochemical indices, and nutritional intakes. Subjects consisted of 1,154 healthy adults without any known disease, aged 19 to 65 years (average age of 36.7), whose information was obtained from the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data. Of these subjects, 73 rated themselves as ‘very healthy,’ 460 indicated that they were ‘healthy,’ 568 self-identified as ‘ordinary’, and 53 put themselves in the ‘unhealthy’ category. The proportion of subjects who chose ‘unhealthy’ was significantly increased with higher frequencies of disruptions in their daily lives (p<0.05), regret after drinking (p<0.05), smoking (p<0.001), and higher levels of stress (p<0.001). On the other hand, the proportion of subjects reported as ‘very healthy’ was significantly higher with regular intense (p<0.001) or moderate physical activities (p<0.05), regular walking (p<0.05), a perception of being ‘normal’ in their body image (p<0.01), a decrease of body weight more than 3 kg in the past year (p<0.05), and without risk factors for metabolic syndrome (p<0.05). Serum triglyceride level was lower, and 25-(OH) vitamin D content was significantly higher, in the ‘very healthy’ group as compared to the ‘unhealthy’ group (p<0.05). Dietary fiber and vitamin C intakes were significantly higher in the ‘very healthy’ group than ‘unhealthy’ group (p<0.05). The overall results suggest that a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, non-smoking, good stress management, and higher intakes of fiber and vitamin C, may be potential factors that affect one’s positive perception of health.

As an indicator of skin health, acidified skin surface pH ranging from 5 to 7 is crucial for maintaining skin barrier. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between skin pH and dietary pattern (DP) as well as nutrient or food intake in 48 healthy middle aged adults. Skin pH was measured in the skin surface of the inner arm, and blood lipid profile was analyzed. Dietary intake data were obtained using 1 day 24 hour recall method, and DP was extracted using factor analysis. Results revealed that skin pH ranged from 5.15 to 6.88 in all subjects. There was no significant difference in skin pH between males and females. When subjects were grouped by tertile of skin pH, the food intake of fruit, and the nutrient intake of omega 6 fatty acid, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, β-carotene, and riboflavin in the first tertile group with skin pH ranging from 5.15 to 5.68 were significantly higher than in the third tertile group with skin pH ranging from 6.26 to 6.88. There was no difference in blood lipid profile between the first and the third tertile group. Among 5 DP extracted by factor analysis, DP5 characterized by a high intake of nuts and fruits as well as a low intake of beverages and alcohol was inversely correlated with skin pH after adjusting for gender and age. DP5 was positively correlated with nutrient intake of carbohydrate, fiber, potassium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, β-carotene, thiamine, and riboflavin but negatively correlated with sodium after adjusting for gender, age, smoking, and energy intake. Therefore, acidified skin pH could be maintained by these DP and nutrients.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship existed between foot type and the location of plantar callus in healthy subjects. Twenty-five healthy subjects with plantar callus were recruited for this study. Foot deformities were classified according to the operational definitions as 1) a compensated forefoot varus, 2) an uncompensated forefoot varus or forefoot valgus, or 3) a compensated rearfoot varus. The location of plantar callus was divided into two regions. Fourteen of the 19 feet with compensated forefoot varus and six of the 9 feet showed plantar callus at the second, third or fourth metatarsal head. Five of the 6 feet with uncompensated forefoot varus and twenty of the 16 feet with forefoot valgus showed plantar callus at the first or fifth metatarsal head. A significant relationship was found between foot type and location of callus (p<.01). The results support the hypothesis that certain foot types are associated with characteristic patterns of pressure distribution and callus formation. We believe diabetic patients with insensitive feet and with the types of foot deformity should be fit with foot orthoses and footwears that accommodate their respective deformity in a position as near to the subtalar joint as possible with the goal of preventing plantar ulceration.