Journal List > Korean J Adult Nurs > v.28(6) > 1076438

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Shin, Park, Choi, Park, and Jung: Self-portrait of Obese and Overweight Korean Women based on Lifetime Phase
Original Article

Korean Journal of Adult Nursing 2016; 28(6): 701-708.

Published online: 31 December 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2016.28.6.701

Self-portrait of Obese and Overweight Korean Women based on Lifetime Phase

Nah-Mee Shin, Ph.D., APRN-ACNP, BC1, Eunyoung Park, Ph.D., APRN-PMHNP, BC2, Jiwon Choi, Ph.D., RN3, Young-Joo Park, Ph.D., RN4, Sunyoung Jung, Ph.D., RN5

1Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

2Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Science, Sangji University, Wonju, Korea.

3Assistant Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.

4Professor, College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

5Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Nursing, Yale University, West Haven, CT, USA.

Corresponding author: Park, Eunyoung. Department of Nursing Science, Sangji University, 83 Sangjidae-gil, Wonju 26339, Korea. Tel: +82-33-738-7626, Fax: +82-33-738-7620, eypark@sangji.ac.kr

Received 29 November 2016       Revised 10 December 2016       Accepted 11 December 2016

© 2016 Korean Society of Adult Nursing

Korean Society of Adult Nursing

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated Korean women in between age 30 to 60 who were obese or overweight in order to explore their self-perception based on lifetime phase.

Methods

Focus group interviews were performed four times with six to eight participants in each group (a total of 27). Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

The data analysis from the interviews revealed recurring common themes: heavy heart, heavy body, resigned acceptance of their own condition, and compromise. The study also found that each age group had different concerns: concerning others' gaze on their obese appearances (30s), realizing their aging obese appearances (40s), recognizing red flags of their health with obesity (50s), and becoming ambivalent about their obese appearances (60s). Overall, their perceptions of being overweight were negative and stressful. Women in their 30s and 40s were more interested in their appearances, and thus were more obsessive about weight gain. In contrast, women in their 50s and 60s were more accepting of their physical appearances, and thus were more concerned about living healthy than losing weight.

Conclusion

These results may be useful to consider when developing tailored weight-control programs for obese and overweight Korean women. Additionally, strategic approaches for successful and effective programs targeting healthy weight should be based on better understanding about women's self-perceptions and motivations.

Keywords: Overweight, Obesity, Women, Health, Perception

Notes

This research was supported by the General Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. NRF-2012R1A1A1044894) and by the Nursing Research Institute, Korea University.

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