• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.270-279
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the sodium and sugar reduction practices of the Samsam foodservice project of Daegu, in comparison with that of general foodservices in Daegu. Methods: A survey was conducted on 80 Samsam foodservice workers and 80 general foodservice workers from Sep. to Oct. 2020. We compared each worker's taste preferences, stage of behavior change and dietary behavior regarding sodium and sugar, and each foodservice's practices regarding sodium and sugar reduction. Results: There was no significant difference between the salty taste and sweet taste preferences between the workers at the Samsam foodservices and those at the general foodservices. The percentage of foodservice workers in action or maintenance stage of behavior change for eating less salty was higher in the Samsam foodservices than in the general foodservices (P < 0.05). In addition, regarding the degree of saltiness and sweetness of meals, the workers at the general foodservices perceived their meals to be saltier (P < 0.001) and sweeter (P < 0.01) than the workers at Samsam foodservices. The workers at Samsam foodservices had fewer salty dietary behaviors compared to the workers at general foodservices (P < 0.01). The sodium reduction practice was significantly higher in the Samsam foodservices than the general foodservices (P < 0.001), especially in "efforts to make the food as bland as possible overall" (P < 0.001), and "serving less soup and stew" (P < 0.001). The sugar reduction practice too was significantly higher in the Samsam foodservices than the general foodservices (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The Samsam foodservices were shown to be better in the practice of sodium and sugar reduction compared to general foodservices. Therefore, it is necessary to provide continuous and practical support and incentives at the national level to expand the sodium and sugar reduction practices in foodservices.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.319-328
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the validity of the Gene-Health application in terms of estimating energy and macronutrients. Methods: The subjects were 98 health adults participating in a weight-control intervention study. They recorded their diets in the Gene-Health application, took photographs before and after every meal on the same day, and uploaded them to the Gene-Health application. The amounts of foods and drinks consumed were estimated based on the photographs by trained experts, and the nutrient intakes were calculated using the CAN-Pro 5.0 program, which was named 'Photo Estimation'. The energy and macronutrients estimated from the Gene-Health application were compared with those from a Photo Estimation. The mean differences in energy and macronutrient intakes between the two methods were compared using paired t-test. Results: The mean energy intakes of Gene-Health and Photo Estimation were 1,937.0 kcal and 1,928.3 kcal, respectively. There were no significant differences in intakes of energy, carbohydrate, fat, and energy from fat (%) between two methods. The protein intake and energy from protein (%) of the Gene-Health were higher than those from the Photo Estimation. The energy from carbohydrate (%) for the Photo Estimation was higher than that of the Gene-Health. The Pearson correlation coefficients, weighted Kappa coefficients, and adjacent agreements for energy and macronutrient intakes between the two methods ranged from 0.382 to 0.607, 0.588 to 0.649, and 79.6% to 86.7%, respectively. Conclusion: The Gene-Health application shows acceptable validity as a dietary intake assessment tool for energy and macronutrients. Further studies with female subjects and various age groups will be needed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.140-151
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• 2011

Middle-school students (158 boys and 199 girls) and their mothers were asked about nutritional attitudes, nutritional knowledge, dietary habits, and food intake using a questionnaire to examine whether nutritional knowledge and dietary behaviors of mothers affected their children's dietary habits. Nutritional attitude scores (total, 15 points) and nutritional knowledge scores (total, 20 points) of girls were 11.24 and 16.13 points, respectively, which were significantly higher than 10.47 and 15.43 points for boys. Generally, mothers received higher points than their children for all scores surveyed, but the results were not significantly different between boys' mothers and girls' mothers. The mean nutrient adequacy ratio (MAR) was calculated from dietary nutrient intakes to assess overall quality of meals. The results showed that girls had a higher MAR than that of boys (0.89 vs. 0.86, p < 0.01). Relationships among variables were examined by Pearson's correlation coefficient within children and between children and their mothers. Significant positive correlations were observed between nutritional attitudes and knowledge in both boys and girls. In girls, positive correlations between nutritional attitudes and dietary habits, nutritional knowledge and dietary habits, and dietary habits and MAR were also sig-nificant. In boys, only dietary habits and MAR were correlated with those of their mothers. Nutritional attitudes, dietary habits, and the MAR of girls' mothers were significantly correlated with nutritional attitude, dietary habits and the MAR of girls. The results indicate that the influence of mothers on dietary behaviors of children was greater in girls than that in boys, suggesting that a gender-specific nutrition education program is needed for middle school students.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.459-470
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• 2014

This study investigated the correlation between eating behavior patterns, including eating-habits, food preferences, snack intake levels, and eating-out frequency and stress levels in high school students (males 174 and females 122) in Seoul. Analysis of eating-habits showed that eating-irregularity and eating-speed increased with elevated stress levels in both males and females under stress. The size of meals decreased in males, whereas it increased in females under getting stress (P<0.01). Preferences for sugar, hamburgers, and pizza also increased in both males and females under stress. Eating-out frequency decreased in males with a high stress level (P<0.01), whereas it increased in females. As for eating-out partners, males did not show any changes, whereas females preferred friends to family when under stress. Eating-out expenses also increased in both males and females, particularly in females with a high stress level (P<0.05). Males under increased stress showed effective stress reduction by increasing food intake, whereas females under increased stress showed less effective results. Consequently, high school students under high stress, particularly females, showed negative changes in eating behavior patterns, including irregular eating-habits, increased instant food and snack intakes, and increased frequency of eating-out. Therefore, development of appropriate programs for reducing stress and persistent nutrition education to promote good dietary behaviors are required.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.97-112
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to develop a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide which includes discretionary activities for obese children. A survey was carried out to investigate the recognition of body image and food behaviors according to the obesity index (mild, moderate, severe) in school children (4~6th grade, 158 boys and 60 girls) who were selected based on a physical examination in May, 2006 in the Gyeongnam province. Next, a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide was developed on the basis of the findings from the survey and from preceding researches. The results are summarized as follow. The results of this study showed the existence of some nutritional problems such as overeating, prejudice, skipping meals, snacking patterns, etc, which indicate the need for nutritional management for obese children. Most overweight children (80.3%) showed the most interest in the nutrition education program, particularly with regards to dieting for weight control (64.7%). The developed nutrition education curriculum consisted of 8 main subjects and 13 subtitles. The curriculum was prepared for 13 lessons and included songs and singing, making-up lyrics, games about nutrition, discussions of the experience of eating (satiety, thirst, hunger), debates on dietary habits, writing and others to promote the interest for learning. We aimed to develop this program in an attempt to improve the dietary habits of obese school children. This is very important because once a dietary habit is formed in adults, it is difficult to change and the best adjustable stage is during childhood. Therefore, early nutrition education during elementary school can change and build-up the awareness of health in young elementary school children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.288-302
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the factors related to skipping breakfast in high school girls. Methods: A survey of a total of 581 high school girls residing in Incheon was conducted. The subjects were classified into 2 groups according to the breakfast frequency: "breakfast skipping" group (eating breakfast ≤ 2 times/week, n = 250) and "breakfast eating" group (eating breakfast ≥ 3 times/week, n = 331). This study compared the general characteristics, lifestyles, interest in weight control and beauty care, food habits, the reasons and symptoms of skipping breakfast, as well as the attitude toward breakfast between the 2 groups. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 16.5 years old. Approximately, 33.9%, 33.6%, and 32.5% of the subjects were in first grade, second grade, and third grade, respectively, with no significant difference between the 2 groups. The breakfast skipping group showed a high interest in weight control, and beauty care than the breakfast eating group. The breakfast skipping group consumed more afternoon snacks and late-night snacks, and ate dinner irregularly. Although the breakfast skipping group experienced the negative effects of skipping breakfast, they showed low recognition for the importance or role of breakfast. The most common reason for skipping breakfast was lack of time, which appears to be related to the late wake-up time and the time spent on make-up or beauty-care. Conclusion: Skipping breakfast by high school girls was related to a high interest in beauty care, irregular meals and low attitude toward the importance of breakfast for health and nutrition. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct nutrition education to change the perceptions and attitudes of female adolescents regarding the importance of breakfast by recognizing that breakfast can affect not only balanced nutrition and health, but also healthy physical beauty.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.335-343
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the food behavior and nutritional status of elementary school students in the Jeju area using Nutrition Quotient (NQ). Methods: The subjects were 440 students (235 boys and 205 girls) in the fifth and sixth grade at four elementary schools located in Jeju. Demographic, lifestyle, and environmental information was collected using a self-reported questionnaire. The food behavior checklist for children's Nutrition Quotient (NQ), consisting of 19 items, and nutrition education related information were also obtained. Results: The mean score of the children's NQ was poor, reaching 60.3 points. The percentage distribution of NQ grade was 19.8% (lowest), 18.6% (low), 45.0% (medium), 10.7% (high), and 5.9% (highest) and the factor scores for balance, diversity, abstinence, regularity, and practice were 56.6, 68.4, 71.3, 57.4, and 54.8 points, respectively. Compared with the NQ cut-off points for defining malnutrition (balance; 57, diversity; 87, abstinence; 66, regularity; 69, and practice; 67 point), average score of abstinence factor was only above the cut-off point and scores of the other factors were below the cut-off point. Subjects with higher NQ scores tended to have higher levels of exercise activity (p < 0.001), frequency of family meals (p < 0.01), and father's educational levels (p < 0.01) compared to those with lower NQ score. NQ score showed positive association with nutrition education experience and practice (p < 0.001). Conclusion: NQ score of elementary school students residing in Jeju was lower than the national average. More opportunities should be provided for participation in nutrition education, which incorporates a range of program strategies, as well as communication and education activities.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.578-585
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• 2010

The purpose of this research was to estimate dietary sodium exposure and to determine the sodium contents of school lunches in Incheon and Gangwon. In this study, we collected 1,334 samples from 8 elementary schools and 8 middle schools for 15 days. The average lunch intakes at the elementary and middle schools were $381.2{\pm}73.8g$ and $460.4{\pm}81.5g$, respectively. The sodium contents of main dishes, side dishes, and desserts were $49.7{\pm}105.6$ mg/100 g, $517.2{\pm}409.2$ mg/100 g, and $135.4{\pm}195.5$ mg/100 g, respectively. The average sodium intakes through lunch at the elementary and middle schools were $863.0{\pm}291.1$ mg and $1,052.1{\pm}323.4$ mg, and average potassium intakes were $571.1{\pm}193.0$ mg and $655.8{\pm}198.4$ mg, respectively. The results of this study show that sodium intake from school lunches is about 47% of the recommended daily intake (RDI, 2,000 mg per day) established by the WHO. Therefore, it is recommended that sodium exposure be continuously monitored.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.797-808
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• 2008

This study has been carried out to obtain information related to food habits and snacking behaviors including health related behaviors. The subjects were 300 middle school students (144 boys and 156 girls). The results were as follows: Average height and weight of boys were 162.3 cm and 54.1 kg respectively. Those of girls were 159.8 cm and 49.0 kg respectively. 59.0% of the subjects of the subjects had 10,000-30,000 won as monthly allowances and their subjective health condition was good (55.7%). In the regularity of meal, 47.0% of the subjects had twice a day, the main reason for skipping meal was insufficient time to eat due to oversleep (54.3%). Most of the subjects (75.0%) had a prejudice in food selection because of a bad taste. 62.0% of the subjects ate snack between meals more than three times a week, because they were hungry, good taste and habitual. The criteria of choosing snack were taste, nutrition and quality of food. Food as snacks they frequently had fruits, milk and milk products, cookies, chocolate in order. Boys had more french fries than girls, girls had more fruits, cookies and chocolate than boys. Average food habit score of boys (49.27 ${\pm}$ 7.53) was higher than that of girls (48.54 ${\pm}$ 7.81). The group who had a higher food habit score, they had more fruits and less soft drink as snacks, lower BMI, and also less monthly allowance than the group who had a lower food habit score. This study may provide basic information on eating habits of middle school students, suggests that nutrition education or counseling can improve food habits and develop positive behaviors toward healthy diets.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.861-869
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the purchasing status and to compare supplier performance evaluations between competitive bidding and negotiated contracts in school foodservice in Changwon, Korea. A total of 190 questionnaires were distributed and 167 (return rate 87.9%) were collected from June 29 to September 28, 2010, and then a total of 151 (analysis rate 79.5%) were used for the final analysis. First, 91.4% of food product purchases for school meals were contracted through competitive bidding, especially limited competitive bidding. It mainly consisted of agricultural products, processed food, and eco-friendly agricultural products (fruit). Second, 78.8% of schools purchased food products by negotiated contracts, while single negotiation accounted for 59.7%. Food products by negotiated contract consisted of meat, kimchi, and fish. Third, the purchase status of competitive bidding and negotiated contracts showed a significant difference in agricultural products (p<0.001), fish (p<0.001), meats (p<0.001), poultry (p<0.001), antibiotic-free poultry (p<0.001), eco-friendly grain (p<0.001), eco-friendly agricultural products (fruit) (p<0.001), eco-friendly processed food (p<0.001), processed products (p<0.001), milk (p<0.001) and general grain (p<0.001) except for kimchi. Fourth, comparative analysis of supplier performance evaluation (on a 5-point Likert scale) of school foodservice showed that price of product of competitive bidding (3.73) was significantly higher than that of negotiated contract (2.95) (p<0.001), and the overall performance level of the negotiated contract (3.85) was significantly higher than that of competitive bidding (3.61) (p<0.01). The supplier performance evaluation levels of product packaging (p<0.01), product quality at the time of delivery (p<0.001), hygiene of products (p<0.001), consistency to specification (p<0.001), swiftness of return and exchange (p<0.001), emergency delivery (p<0.001), service of delivery staff (p<0.05), and handling of complaints (p<0.001) of negotiated contracts were significantly higher than those of competitive bidding of school foodservice. In conclusion, school foodservice selected food suppliers both by adopting competitive bidding and negotiated contracts. And there was a significant difference of school foodservice supplier performance between competitive bidding and negotiated contracts in Changwon, Korea.