Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the actual state of the food allergy and food behavior in adults by using a questionnaire. The subjects of this study were consisted of 207 males and 355 females in Gyeongbuk area. The results are as follows: Among the respondents, 54.9% kept up with proper eating habits, 41.2% knew how much they would have to eat appropriately in a day, and women ate more milk and snacks than men in a day and men ate more meat than women. 58.3% of men and 46% of women were eating 3 meals a day. This finding indicated that women skipped the meal more than men. 77.2% of the respondents skipped their breakfast, 13.5% the lunch, and 9.3% the dinner. 48.5% of men and 28.8% of women evacuated over 8 times a week(p<0.001). Eczema was the allergy symptom which broke out the most highly in both male and female; 25% of men and 29.9% of women. Atopic dermatitis and pollen allergy broke out similarly in both male and female. Allergic rhinitis occurred twice more in men than in women. Asthma broke out in men about three times more than in women. 36.3% of men and 46.5% of women visited a doctor when they had an allergic reaction. 40.9% of men and 40.7% of women believed that the allergy was caused mainly by the dust in the house and mites. The other factors, which caused the allergic reaction, were thought to be the specific food and the pollution from cars and factories by men and the specific food and others by women. 35.4% of men and 44.2% of women ate homemade food to prevent allergies.