This study was performed to investigate effects of behavior modification on obesity index, skinfold thickness, body fat, serum lipids, serum leptin in obese elementary school children.

Forty seven students were selected from two elementary schools. Twenty four children in one school were assigned to experimental group and twenty three children in another school were assigned to control group. Experimental group was received 60~70 minutes of behavior modification once a week for 8 weeks.

Obesity index of the experimental group was significantly decreased after behavior modification. But there was no significant difference between two groups. The increase of skinfold thickness was significantly low in the experimental group compared to the control group. Percentage of body fat and fat mass were significantly decreased in the experimental group. Fat free mass was significantly increased in the experimental group. HDL-C, triglyceride and serum leptin between the experimental group and control group showed no significant difference.

These results indicate that behavior modification is effective in decreasing percentage of body fat and fat mass, in less increasing skinfold thickness and in increasing fat free mass. In conclusion, behavior modification can be used as effective strategy for managing obesity in elementary school children.

This study was conducted to assess optimal needle length for gluteal intramuscular injections (IM) via simple skinfold thickness (SFT).

For this study, 190 healthy adults were recruited and grouped into eight groups according to gender and body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²). The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity criteria defines a BMI under 20 as underweight, 20.1-22.9 as normal, 23-24.9 as overweight and over 25 as obese. For each participant, the SFT of dorsoguteal (DG) and ventrogluteal (VG) sites were measured using a caliper. Subcutaneous tissue thickness was acquired through ultrasonic images.

For men in the overweight and obese groups at the DG site, for the obese group at the VG site, and for women in the normal weight, overweight and obese groups at both sites, the mean subcutaneous tissue thickness exceeded 1.84 cm, the minimal length for a 1 inch needle used for IM. At the DG site, optimal intramuscular needle length (OINL) was 1.4 times in women and 1.0 times in men compared to SFT. At the VG site, OINL was 1.3 times in women and 0.9 times in men compared to SFT.

The results of this study suggest that SFT is a reliable index to determine optimal needle length with minimal effort prior to IM.