• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.511-516
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine contribution of meal frequency, self-efficacy for healthy eating, and availability of healthy foods towards diet quality of adolescents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study was conducted among 373 adolescents aged from 13 to 16 years old. Diet quality of the respondents was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index for Malaysians. Meal frequency, self-efficacy for healthy eating, and availability of healthy foods were assessed through the Eating Behaviours Questionnaire (EBQ), self-efficacy for healthy eating scale, and availability of healthy foods scale, respectively. RESULTS: The majority of the respondents (80.7%) were at risk of poor diet quality. Males ($mean=34.2{\pm}8.2%$) had poorer diet quality than females ($mean=39.9{\pm}9.0%$) (t = -5.941, P < 0.05). Malay respondents ($mean=36.9{\pm}8.7%$) had poorer diet quality than Indian respondents ($mean=41.3{\pm}10.0%$) (F = 2.762, P < 0.05). Age (r = 0.123, P < 0.05), self-efficacy for healthy eating (r = 0.129, P < 0.05), and availability of healthy foods (r = 0.159, P < 0.05) were positively correlated with the diet quality of the respondents. However, meal frequency was not correlated with the diet quality of the respondents. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that being a male, being a Malay, low self-efficacy for healthy eating, and low availability of healthy foods contributed significantly towards poor diet quality among respondents. CONCLUSIONS: In short, sex, ethnicity, self-efficacy for healthy eating, and availability of healthy foods were associated with diet quality among adolescents. Health practitioners should take into consideration of differences in sex and ethnicity during implementation of nutrition-related intervention programs. Self-efficacy for healthy eating and availability of healthy foods should be included as important components in improving diet quality of adolescents.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.108-112
• /
• 1984

Quality characteristics of fruits and vegetables were investigated by physical, chemical and sensory evaluations. Firmness of tomato fruits tended to be reduced as their maturity or ripeness stage progressed. Sensory evaluation revealed that raw tomatoes were the most acceptable at pink or light red stage. Specific gravity was highly correlated with mealiness. Emphasis was placed on the basic study forming the foundation of national quality standards of raw fruits and vegetables.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.605-610
• /
• 2009

In the last 20 years, meat quality, especially meat edible quality has become a more intriguing topic in the field of swine production. In this paper, we briefly review the progress of meat quality research from the aspects of genetic selection and nutritional modulation, and propose a possible approach -nutrigenomics- to explore the nutrition-responsive major genes that affect meat quality formation during the growing and fattening of pigs.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.48-58
• /
• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate effects of nutrition education and exercise intervention on health and diet quality of middle-aged women. The subjects were 209 women who wanted to involve in the health promotion program run by Jincheon-Gun Health Center. Nutrition education was given once a week and dance sports were done twice a week for 3 months. Nutrient intakes were assessed by 24-hour recall method and food records. Dietary habits and nutrition knowledge were investigated by self-administered questionnaires before and after the intervention program. Body and blood compositions were measured before and after the program. The nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) was significantly increased in energy, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B2 and calcium, mean adequacy ration (MAR) was significantly increased (p < 0.05), and also the index of nutritional quality (INQ) was significantly increased in protein (p < 0.01). Percent (%) RIs of protein (p < 0.01) and calcium (p < 0.05) were significantly increased and body weight (p < 0.001), body fat (p < 0.01), soft lean mass (p < 0.01) and BMI (p < 0.001) decreased. Over the 3-month study, there was a significant trend toward higher HDL-C and albumin levels and lower LDL-C level (p < 0.001). The results showed that nutrition education and exercise intervention could improve the body health and the diet quality.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.497-510
• /
• 2011

We tried to find out parents' satisfaction and needs for foodservice quality of the childcare centers with an intention of improving it. Self-completed questionnaires were randomly collected from the parents of children in 174 childcare centers around Asan and were analyzed. Most of respondents were mothers who were housewives with college degrees (69%) in their 30's (80%). They thought nutrition (50%) and food hygiene (43%) were the most important factors for decision. Eighty percent of parents recognized the strong relationship between foodservice quality and childrens' mental and physical development. Most centers (94%) were delivering menu notices home, so parents well recognized the center's foodservice situation and problems of their kids' eating habits. The parents' satisfaction scores were 3.26 out of 5-point scale. The biggest dissatisfaction was from no variation in menu, but remarkable appreciation was from the effect of foodservice on the correction for kids' unbalanced diet habit. They had demands for improvement of nutritious menu and professional nutrition teacher in charge of foodservice and nutrition education for children and also for parents.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.395-407
• /
• 2019

Objectives: This study examined the association of the sleep quality and patterns with the dietary behavior, including snack and beverage consumption, taste preferences, as well as lifestyle of university students. Methods: The subjects were 406 university students in Cheongju, Korea, and the data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. They were divided into two groups according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): good-quality sleepers (PSQI score ≤ 5) and poor-quality sleepers (PSQI score > 5). The data were analyzed using a χ²-test, independent t-test, and analysis of covariance using the SPSS 25.0 program. Results: Fifty-two percent of university students were categorized as poor-quality sleepers by the PSQI. Students classified as poor-quality sleepers had delayed bedtimes, and a shorter duration in bed and total sleep hours than the good-quality sleepers did. Poor-quality sleepers were more prevalent among those who were female, having irregular mealtimes, or frequent late night meals. They also consumed fast food frequently, such as fried chicken and hamburgers, and noodles when adjusted for gender. In addition, drinks with caffeine over milk were dominant among poor-quality sleepers. Furthermore, the preferences for spicy and salty tastes and longer smartphone usage were more prevalent in those with poor-sleep quality. Conclusions: These results showed that more than 50% of university students reported disturbed sleep and poor quality sleep was associated with less desirable snack consumption and taste preference, more smartphone usage, and others. Therefore, nutrition education program along with lifestyle changes promoting sufficient sleep are encouraged to provide for university students, particularly those who have poor sleep quality.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.57-62
• /
• 2009

The current exploratory study attempted to investigate the levels of expected and perceived service quality of in-flight meals. A questionnaire was developed following extensive literature review and in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted on board a flight by international passengers and also by passengers in the trans lounge waiting for connecting flights between October 21, 2005 through October 30, 2005. Out of the 450 questionnaires administered, a total of 319 completed questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 89.6%. The 20 items representing the service quality factor of in-flight meals were analyzed, resulting in four distinct dimensions-food quality, employee service, cleanliness and reliability. In all dimensions, customer expectation was higher than the perceived level of service and the service quality of Korean based airlines was higher than that compared to foreign based airlines. There were differences in the perceived service quality of in-flight meals according to the demographics of the respondents. The results of this study can be beneficial from a theoretical and practical point of view by providing empirical data that measures the service quality of in-flight meals.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.96-106
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to compare the differences in the quality of dietary and life across age groups of Korean adults. According to life cycle, four age groups (20~29, 30~49, 50~64, ≥65) were created. Anthropometric indices showed significant differences according to age group (p<0.001). Energy intake significantly decreased according to age group as a result of decreased protein and fat intake (p<0.001). The intake levels of minerals, vitamins, and dietary fiber per 1,000 kcal were the lowest in the 20~29 age group (p<0.001). Whereas saturated fatty acids, MUFA, and PUFA intake levels were the highest for those in the 20~29 age group (p<0.001). The quality of dietary (DQI-I) increased with age group, but the quality of life (EQ-5D index) decreased (p<0.001). The quality of dietary showed 5.8% explanation power on the quality of life (p<0.001). Additionally, diet moderation was shown as having a negative effect, but the diversity and balance of diets had a positive effect on the quality of life. By age group, the relationship between quality of dietary and quality of life was the highest in ≥65 age group. These results suggest that practical dietary education is needed from the 20's to ensure the quality of healthy life for the elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.310-315
• /
• 2004

The purposes of this study were to: a) develop the quality assessment tool of Web-based Instruction (WBI) for nutrition education, b) evaluate the operated WBI (NutriZone) by this tool, and c) do the feasibility study about quality assessment tool for WBI by establishing the instruction and operating strategies. The developed quality assessment tool of WBI for nutrition education was divided into three categories of instruction design, contents and support ＆ operation. And a total of forty items were measured by Likert 5 point scale, computed as one point per item, and amounted to forty points in all. As a result of evaluation, NutriZone got 21.79 out of 40 points and fulfillment rate of 54.5%. The IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) was applied to establish the instruction and operating strategies, and nine items characterized as attractiveness, multimedia, and learner-initiative were in 'Doing Great, Keep It Up', and so it was regar-ded as program designed with concern in WBI's characteristics unlike the conventional face-to-face education. But twelve items such as 'Errors on switch to other screens are few.', 'Ready correction leads to be out of systemic error.', 'Highlight marks and moving pictures were used in sign of importance.' and etc. that got high importance and low performance needed to be focused in instructional strategy.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.114-122
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors of university residence hall foodservice quality which has correlations with subjective QOL (quality of life) of target customers. A total of 176 questionnaires from students of 4 universities in Daegu, Gyeongbuk area were used for the analysis. The male students using residence hall foodservices were highly satisfied with 'clean appearances of employees' ($4.86{\pm}1.25$) and 'clean facilities' ($4.79{\pm}1.26$), while the degree of satisfaction with 'convenient facilities' ($4.50{\pm}1.20$) showed the highest score with female students. Ranking analysis using Spearman's ${\rho}$ revealed that there were significant correlations between students' satisfactions with the dimensions of 'foods and kindness of employees', 'hygiene', 'nutrition', and 'convenience' and their QOL, even though physical QOL of female students showed no significant correlation with satisfaction towards residence hall foodservices. As a conclusion, there should be efforts to improve the QOL of target customers through foodservice quality management.