Korean Journal of Community Nutrition (대한지역사회영양학회지)

The Korean Society of Community Nutrition (대한지역사회영양학회)
권호 표지

Food Habits, Eating Behaviors and Food Frequency by Gender and among Seoul and Other Regions in Upper-Grade Elementary School Children

서울 및 지방에 거주하는 초등학교 고학년 남녀 아동들의 식습관, 식행동 및 식품섭취빈도

  • Kim, Kyung Hee (Department of Food & Nutrition, Duksung Women's University)
  • 김경희 (덕성여자대학교 식품영양학)
  • Received : 2010.03.08
  • Accepted : 2010.04.07
  • Published : 2010.04.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the differences in food habits, eating behaviors and food frequency by gender and regions in upper grade elementary school children in Korea. Subjects of this study were 1,211 children, 645 boys and 566 girls, attending 6 elementary schools (4th, 5th and 6th graders). 389 children lived in Seoul and 822 children lived in other regions. Mean height, weight and BMI of subjects were 142.4 cm, 38.7 kg and $18.8\;kg/m^2$ respectively. 70.5% of the subjects had breakfast every day and 12.4% of the subjects skipped breakfast. There were significant differences between boys and girls in causes of skipping breakfast, overeating, meal volume, and duration of meals. Girls showed more desirable eating behavior than boys (p < 0.001). Scores for specific eating behaviors such as unbalanced diet and intake of meats and vegetables were better in girls (p < 0.001), and boys ate meals faster than girls (p > 0.001). There were significant differences between Seoul and other regions in eating behavior. Eating behavior scores of children in other regions were higher than in Seoul (p < 0.01). Children in Seoul had a higher frequency of watching television with meals. Frequency of fruits (p < 0.001), milk products (p < 0.01), and meats (p < 0.05) of children in Seoul were higher than other regions. Otherwise the frequency of simple sugar products of children in other regions was higher than Seoul (p < 0.001). Frequency of green vegetables was higher for girls than boys, and frequency of fast foods was higher for boys than girls. These results showed that in nutrition education programs designed to improve the nutritional health of elementary school children, we need to focus more on differences in the children's food habits and eating behaviors by gender and regions. In consideration of these differences, such educational programs need to have a different emphasis for each gender and regions to serve its specific needs.

Keywords

References

  1. Affenito SG, Thompson DR, Barton BA, Franko DL, Daniels SR, Obarzanek E, Schreiber GB, Striegel-Moore RH (2005): Breakfast consumption by African-American and white adolescent girls correlates positively with calcium and fiber intake and negatively with body mass index. J Am Diet Assoc 105(6): 938-945 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2005.03.003
  2. Chang HS, Kim MR (2003): A study on the anthropometry and health-related lifestyle habits of women college student in Kunsan. Korean J Community Nutr8(4): 526-537
  3. Cho KJ (2004): The research study on the food habits according to obesity index of primary school children in Busan. Korean J Food Culture 19(1): 106-117
  4. Coon KA, Goldberge J, Rogers BL, Tucker KL (2001): Relationships between use of television during meals and children's food consumption patterns. Pediatrics 107(1): E7 https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.107.1.e7
  5. Hong YJ (1998): A study on relation of food ecology to obesity index of 5th grade children in Cheju city(II) - Obesity index of children and food habit of their mothers. Kor J Dietary Culture 13(2): 141-151
  6. Hyun WJ, Lee JW, Kwak CS, Song KH (1998): Energy value of breakfast and its relation to total daily nutrient intake and serum lipid in Korean urban adults. Korean J Community Nutr 3(3): 368-379
  7. Jeong NY, Kim KW (2009): Nutrition knowledge and eating behaviors of elementary school children in Seoul. Korean J Community Nutr14(1): 55-66
  8. Joo EJ, Kim IS, Kim YS, Seo EA (2001): Determining the frequency of obesity and eating habits of older(4th, 5th, 6th grade) elementary school students in Iksan city by some obesity indices. Korean J Community Nutr 6(1): 16-27
  9. Kim EY, Park HH (2004): A study on eating habit of elementary school students in higher grade. Korean J Food & Nutr 17(4): 393-404
  10. Kim EK, Choi YS, Cho UH, Chi KA (2001): Childhood obesity of elementary school students in Kangnung and Seoul areas-effects of area and parental socio-economic status. Korean J Nutr 34(2): 198-212
  11. Kim HG, Nam HK (1998): A survey of life style habits of obese school children. J Korean Soc School Health 11(1): 99-110
  12. Kim JY, Han YS, Bae HS, Ahn HS (2006): Dietary intakes and serum lipids and iron indices in obese children. Korean J Community Nutr 11(5): 575-586
  13. Kim KH (2005): Effects of eating habits and control of overeating of obese children on body weight control program. Korean J Diet Culture 20(4): 476-486
  14. Kim SY, Lee HJ (2007): The influence of food habits on nutritional intake and body mass index in elementary school students in the Gyeongnam area. Korean J Community Nutr 12(6): 705-713
  15. Kim YS, Rha YA (2005): A study for dietary behaviors of elementary school students in Seoul by gender. Korean J Culinary Res 11(4): 77-91
  16. Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez D, Patton K, Pgano ME, Murphy JM (2202): Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Ann Nutr Metab 46(Suppl 1): 24-30
  17. Ku PJ, Lee KA (2000): A survey on dietary habit and nutritional knowledge for elementary school student's nutritional education. Korean J Dietary Culture 15(3): 201-213
  18. Ku UH, Seo JS (2005): The status of nutrient intake and factors related to dislike of vegetables in elementary school students. Korean J Community Nutr 10(2): 151-162
  19. Lee KH, Hwang KJ, Her ES (2001): A study on body image recognition, food habits, food behaviors and nutrient intake according to the obesity index of elementary children in Changwon. Korean J Community Nutr 6(4): 577-591
  20. Lee KS, Lee HG (2000): A study on the nutrition knowledge, dietary behavior and food preference of the employed women in Korea. Kor J Soc Food Sci 16(4): 301-310
  21. Lee NS, Im YS, Kim BR (1997): The study on the food habits and preferences of elementary school children. Korean J Community Nutr 2(2): 187-196
  22. Lee SY (2001): The research study on the eating habits and food preferences of the elementary school students in Gwangju. Korean J Human Ecology 4(1): 46-61
  23. Park MA, Moon HK, Lee KH, Suh SJ (1998): A study on related risk factors of obesity for primary school children-difference between normal and obese group-. Korean J Nutr 31(7): 1158-1164
  24. Saldanha LG (1995): Fiber in the diet of US children: results of national surveys. Pediatrics 96(5 pt 2): 994-997
  25. Schlundt DC, Hill JO, Sbrocco T, Pope-cordle J, Sharp T (1992): The role of breakfast in the treatment of obesity. J Am Clin Nutr 55(3): 645-654
  26. Shin EK, Lee HS, Lee YK (2004): Effects of nutrition education program in obese children and their parents(I)-Focus on antropometric values and serum biochemical index. Korean J Community Nutr 9(5): 566-577
  27. Shin KO, Yoo YY, Park HS (2005): Study on the eating habits and growth development in Korean preschool children Korean J Nutr 38(6): 455-464
  28. Sung CJ, Sung MK, Choi MK, Kim mh, Seo YL, Park ES, Baik JJ, Seo JS, Mo SM (2003): Comparison of the food and nutrition ecology of elementary scgool children by regions. Korean J Community Nutr 8(5): 642-651
  29. Yi BS (2007): Comparative analysis on meal and food preference between non-obese and obese elementary school children. Korean J Food Culture 22(4): 482-491
  30. Yon MY, Han YH, Hyun TS (2008): Dietary habits, food frequency and dietary attitudes by gender and nutrition knowledge level in upper-grade school children. Korean J Community Nutr 13(3): 307-322
  31. Yu OK, Park SH, Cha YS (2007): Eating habits, eating behaviors and nutrition knowledge of higher grade elementary school students in Jeonju area. Korean J Food Culture 22(6): 665-672