• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-93
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• 2005

The purpose of this was to present the efficient directions of nutrition education for elementary school children. We examined the problems of eating habits. nutrition knowledge, and perception and expectations on nutrition education of elementary school children in school. This study was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire and subjects were 562 elementary school children in Gyeonggi Province. All data in this research was analyzed through SAS program, and the frequency$(\%)$ and the $mean{\pm}S.D.$ on each question were calculated. Data for each group was analyzed according to sex and the difference among the groups were treated for significance by using chi-square test and Student t-test. About $87.6\%$ of the children have a meal over three times a day, and $76.7\%$ answered that they ate at a certain time regularly everyday. Only $69.6\%$ of subjects said that they ate breakfast everyday, showing very high levels of skipping breakfast. The most common frequency of eating snacks was 'once a day' in both sexes(male $52.2\%$, female $48.6\%$). In the perception on the eating habits, $69.3\%$ of children recognized problems on dieting habits, such as unbalanced diet. irregular eating time, and overeating. The perceived and correct knowledge of nutrition were $99.5\%$ and $86.9\%$, respectively. Most of the children$(99.1\%)$ acknowledged that nutrition education need to be carried out in school. And children want to deeply deal with 'cooking', 'growth and nutrition', 'good eating habits', 'nutrition and disease', These results indicated that elementary school children tended to have undesirable eating behaviors, but the rate of children who recognize the importance and the needs of nutrition education in school was high. Therefore, their parents and teachers need to perform continuous education through a curriculum and life instruction so that students have healthy habits by considering what the problems of nutrition habits are, as the elementary students considerably recognize problems of their own dietary habits and needs of nutrition education.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.416-427
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• 2011

This study investigated the association among parental socioeconomic level, overweight, and eating habits with diet quality in Korean sixth grade school children. A 3-day dietary survey was conducted, and a questionnaire and anthropometric data were collected from the Korean child obesity cohort (320 boys and 345 girls). The children were classified into two groups (low or high level) based on monthly household income and paternal and maternal education status. Lower maternal education status was associated with a higher risk for overweight in girls (odd ratio, 1.91; 95% confidence interval 1.07-3.44), whereas belonging to a higher socioeconomic group in terms of parental income or parental education level resulted in the consumption of significantly more fruit. Boys did not show significant differences in the intake of most nutrients or diet quality regardless of socioeconomic status. However, girls in the lower socioeconomic group had a lower food habit score (higher frequency of breakfast skipping and ramen noodle consumption), diet quality, and intake of nutrients (carbohydrate, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber) than those in the higher socioeconomic group. Therefore future nutrition policies and interventions should support parents and children with lower socioeconomic status to develop health-related behaviors that may prevent childhood overweight.