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Objectives: This study aims to analyze the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation for cancer warning labels on alcoholic products and explore its implications for improving South Korea’s public health policies on alcohol consumption. Methods: Specifically, it examines the scientific evidence linking alcohol to cancer risk, evaluates the effectiveness of warning labels in influencing consumer behavior, and compares international regulatory approaches to identify policy gaps in South Korea. Results: The research confirms that alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, increasing the risk of at least seven cancers, including breast, colorectal, and liver cancer, through mechanisms such as DNA damage and hormonal imbalance. Despite this, South Korea’s current warning labels are insufficient in conveying cancer risks due to weak legal enforcement. To enhance public health measures, this study proposes: first, strengthening alcohol warning labels with clearer messages and graphic elements, second, expanding public health campaigns to increase awareness, third, enforcing stricter regulations on alcohol advertisements, and fourth, revising national alcohol consumption guidelines while integrating cancer prevention programs in healthcare and workplace settings. Conclusions: By addressing these gaps, South Korea can adopt a more proactive public health approach to minimize alcohol-related cancer risks and align with international best practices.

Objectives: This study examines the perception and regulation of the negative impact of sulbang(drinking broadcasting) from the perspective of the third-person effect. Methods: An online survey was conducted on 476 university students in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Chungcheong. Results: First, Third-person perceptions of the negative impact of sulbang were found. Second, the lower the positive drinking expectation, the higher the third-person perception of sulbang impact, and the higher the third-person perception of sulbang impact, the more they supported the regulation of sulbang. Third, It was found that women's third-person perception had a greater effect on the regulation of sulbang than men. Conclusion: Since a third-party effect found on the impact of sulbang, efforts are needed to build social consensus related to sulbang regulation through a council involving government, industry, and the media. In addition, A public campaign aimed at reducing positive drinking expectancy could reduce the impact of sulbang.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of diabetes duration on healthy eating behavior among Korean adults, propose an effective intervention strategy to facilitate health behaviors, and provide scientific evidence for diabetes management policy development. Method: This study used data from the 7th wave of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES) 2016-2018 utilized. The final analysis included 855 individuals aged 20 to 64 years who had been diagnosed with diabetes. To examine the relationship between diabetes duration and healthy eating behaviour, logistic regression analyses, including gender-stratified models, were conducted. Result: Our results showed that individuals with a diabetes duration of 15 years or more had a 35% lower likelihood of practicing healthy eating behavior compared to those with a duration of less than 5 years. Individuals with the lowest educational attainment were also less likely to practice healthy eating behavior, while those engaging in aerobic physical activity had significantly higher odds. The results from gender-stratified model indicated that the lowest income and lowest education levels were associated with lower likelihood of healthy eating behavior, whereas smokers showed higher odds of healthy eating among women. In men, those with a high school education and a disease duration of 15 years or more had lower odds of healthy eating, whereas engagement in aerobic physical activity were linked to better dietary practices. Conclusions: Our findings highlight that the duration of diabetes influence healthy eating behavior, emphasizing the importance of educational and counseling programs to promote healthy eating practices as well as the development of support programs for patients and their families.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between body image distortion and depression among female adolescents before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, using large-scale national survey data from South Korea. Methods: A total of 105,393 female students aged 12 to 18 years were included from the 13th to 18th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2017–2022). Based on BMI and subjective body image perception, participants were categorized into three groups: accurate perception, underestimation (underweight distortion), and overestimation (overweight distortion). Depression was assessed with a single item about experiencing persistent sadness or despair in the past 12 months. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of body image distortion on depression before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: After the onset of COVID-19, the prevalence of overweight distortion decreased while underweight distortion slightly increased. Depression was more prevalent among those with distorted body image perceptions, especially among those who perceived themselves as overweight. After adjusting for covariates, overweight distortion was associated with significantly higher odds of depression both before (OR=1.25, 95% CI: 1.19–1.30) and after (OR=1.22, 95% CI: 1.16–1.29) the pandemic. Underweight distortion also showed a modest but significant association with depression. Other significant predictors of depression included low academic achievement, low socioeconomic status, sleep dissatisfaction, and frequent fast food consumption. Conclusions : Body image distortion is a significant risk factor for adolescent depression, and this relationship persisted before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to improve accurate body perception and promote mental health among adolescents, particularly female students, are needed in the post-pandemic era.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify factors associated with smoking and e-cigarette use among men and women, adopting a socio-ecological model. Methods: Data from the Community Health Survey were merged with regional-level databases covering 255 health center units, yielding 230,777 individuals. Explanatory variables were selected through stepwise, and multilevel logistic regression were conducted with smoking and e-cigarette use as dependent variables. Analyses were stratified by gender. Results: Among 105,226 men, 33.9% were smokers, 80.4% smoked traditional cigarettes, and 19.6% used e-cigarettes. Among 125,551 women, 3.8% were smokers, 75.1% smoked traditional cigarettes, and 24.9% used e-cigarettes. Common individual factors associated with smoking included living alone, sales/service jobs, high school education, middle income, poor oral health, lack of physical activity or health check-ups, binge drinking, high stress, neighborhood dissatisfaction, and low social participation. E-cigarette users were more likely to have higher socioeconomic status. Regionally, higher neighborhood trust reduced smoking for both genders. Among men, smoking was more likely in areas with higher cerebrovascular disease mortality and divorce rates, while a higher financial independence rate increased e-cigarette use. Among women, regions with larger elderly populations had lower smoking rates. Conclusion: Smoking and e-cigarette prevention and cessation programs need to consider both individual and regional factors.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the impact of work-related stress experienced by public health center staff during the COVID-19 pandemic on their perception of organizational justice. Based on these findings, it seeks to provide policy implications for improving human resource management and organizational practices within local infectious disease response systems. Methods: An online survey was conducted in November 2023 among 1,167 employees who participated in COVID-19 response efforts at 16 district health centers in Busan, South Korea. A total of 587 valid responses were analyzed. Survey items included work-related stress related to COVID-19, burnout, perceived organizational justice, experiences of depression, perceived stress, and general demographic characteristics. Statistical analyses included t-tests, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and linear regression. Results: The average score of work-related stress among health center staff was 4.50 on a 5-point scale, indicating high stress levels. Major stress factors included workload disparities across job categories, frequent changes in guidelines, and excessive overtime. Work-related stress showed a significant positive correlation with perceived organizational justice (β=.338, p<.001). Burnout (β=.213, p<.01), age, years of service, and experiences of depression also significantly influenced perceptions of organizational justice. Conclusions: The excessive workload, perceived unfair task distribution, and lack of adequate compensation among frontline public health workers during the pandemic negatively affected their sense of organizational justice. To strengthen infectious disease response systems, it is necessary to establish specialized teams within public health centers, expand staffing, implement fair compensation systems, and provide psychological support. This study offers empirical evidence to inform policy and improve the management of public health personnel in crisis situations.