A Study for Dietary Attitude and Food Behavior of Elementary, Middle and High School Students of Korea

우리 나라 일부 초.중.고등학생들의 식생활 태도 및 식행동에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dietary attitude and food behavior of elementary, middle and high school students in Korea. The subjects in this study were 7,698 boys and girls in large cities in Korea. The questionnaire was made and distributed to the students to answer the questions. Followings are the results of this study : 1) Father and mother's average ages were 45 and 41 years old, respectively. 2) Most students thought dietary life was more important than clothing or residentary life. Dietary habits such as irregularity of meal, frequencies of skipping meal and of eating out increased in higher grade than in lower grade, and in girls than in boys. 3) Most students, especially in elementary school, recognized that their own bad dietary habbit was unbalanced diet. Irregular meal time and eating too much were also pointed out as problems by middle and high school students. 4) Most students thought that the most effective meal for health was breakfast, but they replied the tartest meal as dinner. 5) Students tended to prefer Korean style food. Cooked rice and kimchi, ramyun, and pizza were ranked the most preferred food when they were hungry. 6) Elementary school students ate meals more regularly than higher grade students, and girls ate meals more regularly than boys. 7) Skipping rate of breakfast was higher than that of lunch or dinner, and the percentage of meal skipping students was increasing with grade elevation. No time to eat or eating between meals was the reasons of irregular meal time. 8) Frequency of dining with family was decreased, but frequency of eating out with friends was increased with increasing grade. The gravity of dining out is increasing rapidly in Korean adolescents. Therefore, nationwide nutrition education policy is necessary to constitute a right dietary environment and a desirable dietary altitude.