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This study examined preservice teachers' understanding of children's play in diverse cultures. Using digital photo essay methods, a total of 37 early childhood preservice teachers in Myanmar, Korea, and the U.S. engaged in a critical discussion on children's play in diverse cultures. The findings suggested that the participants typically showed three layers of cross-cultural awareness: distance, friction, and flow. Korean and the U.S. participants conducted critical reflections on their preconceived notion of play, as influenced by the idea of Western childhood play. Although Myanmar participants revealed a desire for Western play materials, we did not observe substantial evidence of critical reflection throughout the cross-cultural exchanges. This paper discusses the implications of investigating culturally sensitive strategies for engendering preservice teachers' implicit beliefs by exchanging digital photo essays across diverse cultures.

Objectives: The association between food insecurity and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) in the population with obesity is unclear. We evaluated factors associated with MUO and the relationship between food insecurity and MUO in individuals with obesity. Methods: We analyzed data from 5191 adults with obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) from the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2019–2021. MUO was defined when participants with obesity had any of the following: (1) triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL, (2) High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol < 40 mg/dL (men), <50 mg/dL (women), (3) systolic blood pressure ≥ 135 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mmHg or on treatment for hypertension, (4) fasting glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL, or on treatment for diabetes. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for MUO according to food security status, sociodemographic characteristics, and lifestyle factors were calculated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of MUO and metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) among the participants was 85.4% and 14.6%, respectively. In the multivariate model, the OR (95% CIs) for MUO in the food insecurity group was 1.87 (1.03–3.43). The odds for MUO were higher among participants with older age, higher BMI, <12 years of education, lower fat intake, non-manual work, and moderated and low physical activity than among their counterparts. Conclusions: Food insecurity, older age, higher BMI, lower educational level, lower fat intake, non-manual workers, and lower physical activity were associated with MUO. Therefore, targeted interventions and policies are needed for vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By critiquing universal approaches to addressing children's play, this study aims to examine early childhood pre-service teachers' discourse on young children's play in a local context. With a multivocal ethnography, pre-service teachers in Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States participated in a project in which they created, exchanged, and discussed digital photo essays cross-culturally. The findings suggest the prevalence of dominant play discourse (i.e., western developmental psychology in children's play) in pre-service teachers' digital photo essays. However, the way participants interpret play varies depending on the local context and cultural values. Cross-cultural exchange on digital photo essays and further discussion enabled pre-service teachers to understand the complex interplay between global discourse and local experiences on the conceptualization of young children's play. We discuss the implications of encouraging pre-service teachers to promote culturally inclusive and contextually appropriate conceptualizations of children's play in various cultural settings.

In contrast to studies focusing on digital games as learning tools, this study shows how young children use digital games as a means of facilitating spontaneous play in their everyday lives. This article highlights how 4 three-year-old children's play with digital games revealed their ability to create new forms of play by mixing their digital game play and other play in real life. In addition, this study shows various examples of young children breaking game boundaries (e.g. rule-breaking; using virtual space as a source for their spontaneous play; navigating between virtual and physical space for their play) in their digital game playing. This finding suggests that digital games do not entirely change or displace other practices in early childhood, but young children's digital game play is very closely related to their spontaneous play as it occurs in their everyday lives. Young children are agentic and capable users of digital technologies, incorporating the digital world for their own purposes.

This study explores young children's digital game play outside of the home as a means of surviving and thriving in modern spaces that limit young children's participation by looking at four digital game-playing three-year-old children. In this ethnographic study, critical theory is used to examine how modern public spaces (e.g., a grocery market, a beauty salon, a kid's club in a gym) function to control young children's participation. This study sheds light on the way we view young children's digital game-playing spaces and argues that young children's digital game play in public spaces serves as a useful tactic for them to negotiate with public regulations, constraints, and their daily schedules.

Aim: We investigated the difference in the relationship between physical activity and low muscle mass resulting from the choice of diagnostic criterion for low muscle mass. Methods: Our study was cross‐sectional, using data from the 2008–2011 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Muscle mass was measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. Low muscle mass was defined as height‐adjusted and weight‐adjusted low muscle mass. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of low muscle mass in relation to physical inactivity were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Our study included 3977 older people (1698 men and 2279 women). The prevalence of height‐adjusted and weight‐adjusted low muscle mass was 4.1% and 11.8%, respectively, in the physically inactive group, and 3.9% and 7.9%, respectively, in the physically active group. The prevalence of weight‐adjusted low muscle mass increased by 48% in the physically inactive group in the fully adjusted model (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.13–1.95) and increased by 61% in men and 50% in women (men: OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.12–2.31 and women: OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.20–2.20) compared with the physically active group. The risk of height‐adjusted low muscle mass in men tended to be higher in the physically inactive group than in the physically active group. However, this trend was not observed among women. Conclusions: Physical inactivity was associated with an increased prevalence of low muscle mass in weight‐adjusted measures among elderly adults in Korea. Height‐adjusted low muscle mass in women is less useful as an indicator of the relationship between low muscle mass and physical inactivity. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 71–77. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]