This study aims to explore the diverse characteristics of obese groups of Korean males in their 20’s to 40’s. A total of 201 males who each had a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 23 or over were recruited through a convenient sampling. Samples were categorized into groups of overweight, slightly obese, and severely obese, and submitted for data analysis. Results are summarized as follows. First, in terms of demographic characteristics, slightly and severely obese males were older than overweight males. There were also group differences in marital status and household income. Second, slightly and severely obese groups demonstrated a higher perception of obesity and a lower perception of health than did the overweight group. Third, there were no group differences in body satisfaction, socio-cultural attitudes toward appearance, and self-esteem. Based on these results, we concluded that overweight, slightly obese, and severely obese groups were distinguishable from each other in terms of their demographic characteristics, whereas the slightly obese group and the severely obese group were not different in terms of perception of obesity, perception of health, weight control behaviors, body satisfaction, body image, socio-cultural attitudes toward appearance, and self-esteem. These findings may reflect that people may not become increasingly sensitive to socio-psychological stimulations as they gain more weight if they have exceeded a certain level of obesity. This observation provides meaningful implications for the differences among obesity groups given the lack of prior research focusing on this issue.

The purpose of this study was to compare weight control behaviour, eating habits, and health-related life habits accordingto degree of obesity among normal, overweight, and obese groups. Self-perception of weight and desire for weight controlin males (p<0.001) and females (p<0.001) varied among the three groups. Reasons (p<0.001), experience (p<0.01), andmethod of weight control (p<0.05) were different among the three female groups, whereas males did not show anydifferences. Intake of nutritional supplements in the male obese group was higher compared to other groups (p<0.01),whereas eating habits were not significantly different among the three groups for both males and females. Food habits scorefor intake of fruits, milk, and yogurt were higher in females than males (p<0.001). Correlation coefficients of food habitsscore and anthropometric measurements showed that hip circumference was negative for intake of fruits in males, whereasRBW and BMI were positive for food combination, intake of bean products, and fishes in females (p<0.05). Frequency andfitting exercise in the obese female group were lower than in the other groups (p<0.01). Therefore, proper nutritionaleducation for obese individuals is recommended proper self-perception of weight, good food habits, and regular exercise.

This study was carried out to analyze the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and general characteristics, psychological factors, eating habits, dietary behaviors, and health related quality of life using survey of 335 women aged 20 to 29 years in the Seoul and Kyungin areas. The 335 study subjects were divided into 4 groups by BMI (㎏/㎡) levels; normal group(18.5≤BMI≤22.9), overweight group(23.0≤BMI≤24.9), mild obesity group(25.0≤BMI≤29.9), and heavy obesity group (BMI≥30) by Asian-Pacific obesity index criteria. The family income of the heavy obesity group was significantly (p<0.05) less than that of the normal weight group. Psychological factors, such as stress and depression of the normal weight group tended to be higher than those of overweight and obesity groups. The higher BMI level had the lower self-efficacy(p<0.05) among all subjects. As the BMI level increased, the preference for sweet, salty, and hot taste was significantly high. We found that normal weight women had healthier eating habits and dietary behaviors and a higher level of health-related quality of life than did those who were overweight, mildly obese, and heavily obese women. Overweight and mildly and heavily obese women were strongly associated with decreased physical and mental health related quality of life. Therefore, weight loss is desirable, and is likely to be beneficial for health-related quality of life in obese adult women. In conclusion, this study contains evidence to suggest that obesity management programs including different strategies according to obesity are required to determine the types of programs that are suitable for adult women, prior to their initiation of a program. The findings are helpful to inform researchers and practitioners who are seeking to implement appropriate strategies to create positive changes in the health behaviors of obese adult women.