Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the eating habits of obese elementary school students residing in Iksan city, in June 2006 using 1167 participants(obese: 233, normal weight: 934). The results are summarized as follows. The average age was 12 years-old in both the obese and normal weight groups. The average BMI, ideal body weight and obesity index in the obese and normal weight groups were $24.8kg/m^2$, 39.8 kg, and 32.5% and $18.2kg/m^2$, 37.7 kg and -1.4%, respectively. Regarding the number of subject who acknowledged their physical build, the obese group was highest(88.9%) in stating obese or extremely obese, while the normal group was highest(71.5%) in stating they were normal weight. For the frequency of eating breakfast, the obese group the results were: "eating it everyday"(69.1%) and $"3{\sim}4\;times/week"$ (13.7%), while in the normal weight group, the highest response was "eating it everyday"(75%) and the lowest response was "never eat it"(4.1%). In terms of having breakfast with someone, there were slight differences for eating alone between the obese group(17.4%) and normal group(12.4%) and also between the obese group(19.6%) and normal group (39.6%) for eating with parents. There were considerable gaps in the association of eating habits with weight such as having irregular meals in the obese group(52.4%) and having regular meals in the normal group(61.1%). The frequency of having snacks was different by the rate of obesity, where 65.9% of the obese group, and 57.8% of the normal group had snacks more than once. There were significant differences in the practice of controlling intake with the obese group at 77.3% and the normal group at 36.3%. There were high numbers regarding eating more than average in stressful times for both the obese group(10.3%) and normal group(7.7%). The results of this study show the prevalence of obesity in Iksan, and proper nutrition education is currently needed. Moreover, the greater the level of obesity, the higher the frequency of skipping breakfast, eating alone, and eating irregular meals, and the more experience in attempting to control weight. To resolve the problems triggered by inappropriate food habits, proper food and eating methods to control weight should be included in nutrition education programs for elementary students.