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Kim, Lee, Ko, Yeon, and Choe: Assessment of Physical Activity Level of Korean Farmers to Establish Estimated Energy Requirements during Busy Farming Season
Original Article
Korean Journal of Community Nutrition

Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 2011; 16(6): 751-761.

Published online: 31 December 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2011.16.6.751

Assessment of Physical Activity Level of Korean Farmers to Establish Estimated Energy Requirements during Busy Farming Season

Eun Kyung Kim, Sun Hee Lee, Su Young Ko, Seo Eun Yeon, Jeong Sook Choe1)

Department of Food and Nutrition, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangwon-do, Korea.

1)National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon, Korea.

Corresponding author: Eun Kyung Kim, Department of Food & Nutrition, Gangneung-Wonju National University, 120 Kangnungdaehangno, Gangneung, Gangwon-do 210-702, Korea. Tel: (033) 640-2336, Fax: (033) 640-2330, ekkim@gwnu.ac.kr

Received 9 November 2011       Revised 22 November 2011       Accepted 28 November 2011

Copyright © 2011 The Korean Society of Community Nutrition

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the physical activity level of Korean farmers to establish their estimated energy requirements during busy farming season. 113 farmers (mean age 51.9 ± 7.2 years, male 42, female 71) who own farmland area above 300 pyung participated in measurement of body weight and height and interviewing of one-day activity diaries. There was no significant difference in age, BMI between male and female. Obesity prevalence according to BMI among male and female farmers was 40.5% and 50.7% respectively. The farmers spent about 7 hours in sleeping and spent about 4 hours 35 minutes working on the farm and spent about 15 hours 30 minutes (64.6% of 24 hours) in "very light activities" and spent about 3 hours 31 minutes (14.7%) in "light activities". Physical activity level (PAL, activity coefficient) of male farmers was 2.63 which was significantly higher than that (2.19) of female farmers (p < 0.05). Estimated energy requirements (EER) for farmers who were different in age and gender were suggested. For example, the estimated energy requirements for male and female farmers were 3058 kcal/day and 2279 kcal/day, respectively. The results of this study suggest that estimated energy requirements (EER) of farmers should be differentiated according to seasonal workload and energy balance of farmers should be evaluated to prevent obesity.

Keywords: physical activity level, farmer, energy expenditure, estimated energy requirement

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Distribution of subjects by gender and age group
kjcn-16-751-i001

Not significantly different in mean age between male and female

Table 2
Anthropometric measurements of subjects by gender
kjcn-16-751-i002

1) Mean ± SD

2) Significant different between male and female at ***: p < 0.001 by t-test

Table 3
Prevalence of obesity among subjects according to body mass index (BMI)
kjcn-16-751-i003

1) N (%), Not significantly different in distribution between male and female

Table 4
Activity examples, expending time and physical activity level by 18 activity levels
kjcn-16-751-i004
Table 5
Comparison of spending time of subjects by 4 activity levels
kjcn-16-751-i005

1) Mean ± SD

2) N (%)

3) Classification of 18 activities levels to 4 activity levels

4) Significant difference between male and female at ***: p < 0.001 by t-test

Table 6
Comparison of physical activity level(PAL) by age groups
kjcn-16-751-i006

1) Mean ± SD

2) Significant difference between male and female at **: p < 0.01 by t-test

Table 7
Comparison of physical activity level by farming type
kjcn-16-751-i007

1) Significant different between male and female at **: p < 0.01, ***: p < 0.001 by t-test

Table 8
Estimated energy requirements(EER) of subjects by gender and age group
kjcn-16-751-i008

1) Mean ± SD, 2) kcal/day

3) Significant different between male and female at **: p < 0.01, ***: p < 0.001 by t-test

4) abc: Means with same superscripts are not significantly different at p < 0.05 by Duncan's multiple comparison test

Notes

This research was supported by grants from rural development administration of Korea (RDA: 20110701-037-506-001-03-00)

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