Comparisons of Health Related Lifestyle and Dietary Behaviors according to Gender, Ethnicity and Residence Type of University Students in Yanbian, China

중국 연변 지역 대학생의 성별과 민족, 거주형태에 따른 건강관련 생활습관 및 식생활 비교

This study aimed to examine the health-related lifestyle habits and eating behaviors according to gender, ethnicity, and residence type of university students in Yanbian, China. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 302 university students. Of the male students, 12.1% and 42.0% were in the underweight and overweight groups, respectively, and of the female subjects, 21.3% and 16.3%, were in those respective groups. More male than female students preferred the overweight body somatotype. In contrast, about 49.4% of female students were hoping to be underweight, and female students had more obvious difficulties with body somatotype perception, whereas their exercise frequency and time spent exercising per day were much less than those of male students. More Chinese than Korean-Chinese subjects exhibited regular eating habits, which included eating at the same time everyday and at the same frequency per day; these habits were, accompanied by generally healthier lifestyle habits regarding regularity of activity and exercise time. Self-boarding students had a significantly higher BMI ($23.7{\pm}5.1kg/m^2$) and were more likely to be overweight (43.5%) as compared to students who lived in a dormitory or with family. Salty taste was preferred by Chinese students more than Korean-Chinese students, and greasy taste was preferred by Korean-Chinese students as compared with Chinese students. This study found that inherent and environmental factors are related with the dietary behaviors of university students in Yanbian, China. Further studies are required to elucidate the structural elements of family life and the sociocultural factors associated with dietary behaviors in Yanbian.