Abstract
Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigated the dietary habits of students in order to identify risk groups according to their Body Mass Index (BMI), and to compare the eating behavior of students in the normal range (19${\le}$24) and those in risk groups (BMI${\le}$19, 24${\le}$27, BMI>27). Method : 1176 elementary school students, 850 middle school students and 672 high school students in Wonju City, were the participants The instrument for this study was a structured questionnaire that included demographic data as well as dietary habits, and the eating behavior instrument developed by Stunkard & Messick(1985) and revised by Kim & Kim (1997). Result : 1) As students moved up ingrade level their dietary habits became more irregular and the degree that students chewed food was reduced 2) As students moved up in grade level, a greater number of the student did not eat breakfast. The reasons given were that there were not enough time before classes started(40.4%) and a lack of appetite in the morning(10.6%) in high school students. 3) As for supper, from 67.8 to 81.9% of subjects reported having regular supper. However the rest of the subjects did not eat supper because of anorexia and fear of weight gain. 4) The results identified risk groups according to their BMI showed that for elementary school students, 55.9% were in the low weight group, 5.5% in the overweight group, and 0.9% in the obese group. For middle and high school students, 40.6% and 35.5% respectively were in the low weight group, 7.4% and 6.3% in the overweight group, and 4.1% and 2.5% the obese group. 5) Comparisons of the eating behavior of students in the normal weight group with that of those in the three risk groups showed that there significant differences in 'hunger' and cognitive restraint of eating' in elementary school students, and significant differences in 'cognitive restraint of eating' in middle and high school students. Conclusion : The results of this study show that management of diet in school health should be addressed from both the aspect of lack of nutrition and that of excess nutrition. In other words, good diet is as important for students in the low weight group as it is for those in the overweight and obese groups. The establishment of good dietary habits and eating behavior in students, by nurses and dieticians should be done by providing repeated diet education and involvement in diet counseling.
