• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.289-305
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• 2020

Picky eating behavior is a significant factor in causing unhealthy eating and disturbing the growth of children. This study examined picky eating behaviors and food intake of 112 preschoolers aged 3~5 year, picky eaters (n=41) and non-picky eaters (n=71), living in Dobong-gu, Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea. Picky eating questionnaires and three consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from their caregivers. The difference between the two groups was verified using a Chi-square test or t-test and Pearson's correlation. Compared to the non-picky eaters, fussiness, satiety responsiveness, and refusal of food variety were significantly higher in picky eaters (P<0.001). Compared to the non-picky eaters, an assessnent of the preschooler's behavior and the caregivers' perception were positively correlated in picky eaters (r=0.749, P<0.001). The intakes of shellfish (P<0.05), vegetables (P<0.001), fiber, vitamin E (P<0.01), vitamin A, and folate (P<0.05) were significantly lower in picky eaters than the non-picky eaters. The major food sources of vitamin A and folate were vegetables, of which grains were the source of fiber, fats and oils were the source of Vitamin E, and root vegetables were source of vegetables in both picky and non-picky eaters. In conclusion, picky eating behaviors are related to different fussiness and slowness in eating. Therefore, it is suggested to increase the amount of meal and vegetable intake in picky eaters.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the eating behavior, growth, and dietary practices of children aged 3~5 years living in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 237 mothers of preschool children between April and June 2018. Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age were calculated to determine the children's growth status. Dietary practices were evaluated using the nutrition quotient for Korean preschoolers (NQ-P). Results: In our study, 29.5% of children were in the eating-small-amounts group, 46.8% of children were in the neophobic behavior group, and 61.2% of children were in the refusal-of-specific food group. Specific foods found to have a high frequency of rejection are listed in descending order as follows: shellfish, soy, mushroom, shrimp, vegetables, milk, eggs, yogurt, seaweed, meat, fruits, and fish. The eating-small-amounts group had lower Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age than the non-picky eaters' group. Compared to the non-picky eaters' group, the eating-small-amounts group of picky eaters had lower scores on the moderation and environment items of the NQ-P, the neophobic behavior group had lower scores on the balance and environment items of the NQ-P, and the refusal-of-specific food group had lower scores on the balance, moderation, and environment items of the NQ-P. Conclusions: Children classified with picky eating behavior had lower growth and development, lower diet diversity, less balanced food intake, and had greater difficulty in abstaining from eating unhealthy foods than non-picky eaters. Therefore, a lot of patience and intensive efforts are needed to encourage children to encounter, experience, and accept unfamiliar food. It is more effective to provide eating behavior guidance by gently encouraging children, than by being strict and forceful. Besides, since the eating behavior of children is influenced maximally by the dietary lifestyle at their homes, it is important to ensure that a healthy dietary lifestyle is maintained at home.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1-17
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between young children's picky eating behavior and mother's attitudes, beliefs and practices regarding the eating habits of children. Using a sample of 304 mothers of four or five year-old children, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test a 7 factor model, which included mother's beliefs and practices related to the feeding of their children. Following this, a t-test was conducted to examine the differences between the feeding behaviors of mothers of both of picky and non-oicky eaters, respectively. The results indicated that picky eater's eating behaviors were positively related to the pressures exerted by mothers and negatively related to the mother's concerns about their child's weight and child's BMI. These findings suggest that the pressures mothers exert upon their children to eat, their child's weight and picky eating behaviors are correlated to each other.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.130-141
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• 2011

This study was conducted to develop a nutrition education workbook to improve picky eating in children and to evaluate the effect of nutrition education using this developed workbook. The developed workbook focused on 2nd and 3rd grade students and consisted of five units. The contents included: multi-grain, vegetables (2 units), fish, and milk. The activities, including observation, and learning the roles and names of the foods, were developed mainly to increase motivation for eating a balanced diet. This workbook was developed from April to December 2008, and was applied at 15 elementary schools containing 1,674 students from April to September 2009 in Changwon City, Korea. We evaluated changes in knowledge before and after education on nutrition, eating behavior, dietary habits, and educational activities using self-administered questionnaires. The children demonstrated significant improvements in nutritional knowledge (P<0.001), eating behavior (P<0.001), and dietary habits (P<0.001). Most of the children answered that the education program was helpful and exciting. Based on these results, we believe that the developed workbook is suitable for children picky eaters, and hope it will be used in the field of child nutrition education.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.451-463
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate booklets and video clips to prevent children from picky eating. Methods: Based on a survey conducted on food preferences of preschool children aged 2 to 5 years, 14 kinds of less preferred vegetables were selected. Accordingly, educational videos, activity books, and teaching-learning guides were produced for preschool children using the 'food bridge' theory, and the educational materials were named "Friendly vegetables". Educational materials were distributed to childcare institutions, and their effectiveness was investigated for preschool children who were instructed on these materials once every 30 days from March to November, 2019. The children were examined for changes in their knowledge of names, colors, taste/texture, methods of cultivation, and preferences for vegetables before and after the instructional course. Results: The awareness of vegetables increased significantly in younger children and the picky eating group. When the assessment was carried out in terms of vegetable knowledge, it was observed that the younger the age or the pickier the in eating food, the more effective the education is compared to the counter part. The preference for vegetables also increased after the instruction compared to the pre-instruction period, but significant changes were seen only in the 2~3 year age group for boys and girls. Also, only the picky group of girls showed changes in preference. The children's average interest in the education materials was 3.85 points out of 5 points. Conclusions: Through this study, we have developed educational materials for standalone use in childcare facilities and confirmed that they have a significant effect on improving awareness and preferences related to vegetables. In summary, the younger the age or the pickier the child in eating food, the more effective the education. It is believed that additional education on mealtime guidance is needed which can alter the eating behavior of preschool children and improve their diet. It is proposed to widen the scope of use of the materials by collecting diverse opinions from child care teachers.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.102-113
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship among dietary behavior, meal balance, and clinical symptoms related nutritional status and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) in preschool children. The survey was conducted using questionnaires and the subjects were 3~6 years old preschool children in Samcheok. Subjects were divided into an ADHD dispositions group(n=88) and a normal group(n=129) based on assessments conducted by the children's mother using the Abbreviated Conners's Parent Rating Scale. There was no significant difference in meal frequency, meal speed, meal regularity or meal balance between children with ADHD dispositions and the normal groups. The ADHD disposition group had a higher proportion of children with picky eating(p<0.05), too much snacking(p<0.05) and over eating (p=0.05) habits than the normal group. In addition, the ADHD dispositions group had a higher frequency of clinical symptoms such as 'breathlessness when going up stairs', 'sleeplessness', 'anxiety' and 'tiredness'. Overall, there was a significant relationship between ADHD disposition and dietary problems and clinical symptoms related to poor nutritional status in preschool children. Therefore, to prevent and treat ADHD in preschool children, proper dietary management such as correcting of picky eating, over snacking and overeating is needed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.418-426
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. In this study, picky eating behaviors were defined as containing four constructs of 'eating a small amount (ES),' 'neophoic behavior (NB),' 'refusal of specific food groups (RF),' and 'preference for specific food-preparation methods (PP).' A 7-point scale was used for the multi-item questionnaire, which consisted of 21 items (three items for ES, two items for NB, nine items for RF, and seven items for PP), in order to evaluate picky eating behaviors of children. Subjects were recruited among visitors at a medical clinic in Seoul. A total of 150 self-administered survey responses from parents of preschool children were analyzed in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. Height for age (HFA) and weight for height (WFH) z-scores were used for assessment of preschool children's growth. The prevalence of ES, NB, RF, and PP was 44%, 57%, 73%, and 53%, respectively. Children with ES had lower HFA (p < 0.05) and WFH (p < 0.0001) than those without ES, while children with NB, RF, or PP had HFA and WFH were similar to their counterparts. The mean HFA z-score of children with ES was less than 0 (p < 0.05) and the mean WFH z-scores of children with ES, NB, RF, or PP were less than 0 (p < 0.05). According to the study results, related growth outcome differed depending on constructs of picky eating behaviors. In particular, picky eating of ES showed a risk of faltering height growth in preschool children. Further comprehensive studies on the reason for ES and intervention approach is warranted.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.979-989
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between dietary behavior and temperament & character in preschool children, and to offer basic data that can be applied for nutrition education and counseling. A total of 211 parents of preschool children aged 3~5 years performed the Korean version of Preschool Temperament and Character Inventory (K-psTCI), a questionnaire based on Cloninger's seven-factor model of personality, along with a questionnaire about the dietary behaviors of their children. K-psTCI represented seven factors such as harm avoidance (HA), novelty seeking (NS), reward dependence (RD), persistence (P), self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (CO), and self-transcendence (ST). The subjects were divided into either the high rank group or low rank group based on the mean score of each factor. The high rank group of HA showed significantly less physical activity and less appetite than the low rank group of HA. The children in the high rank of NS were more likely to have picky eating and a late night snack. The children in the low rank of SD or CO were more likely to have undesirable dietary behaviors, such as picky eating, too much snacking, and lower appetite than those in the high rank of SD or CO. In conclusion, individual temperament & character in preschool children may be associated with their dietary behavior, and understanding temperament & character in children may be important facts to screen and to develop an effective nutrition education program for children.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.336-341
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• 2013

This study is to verify the effects of sensory education based on classroom activities for $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ grade children. The hypothesis is that children who participated in sensory education would demonstrate positive changes in eating behaviors through sensory experiences. The sensory education program consists of 12 lessons. Twenty-six children were being recruited from one school in Changwon, Korea. Two control groups, one of which was the same age as the educated group and the other group of sixth graders, were selected by random sampling from the same school. Children answered a self-administered questionnaire. The parents (n = 20) of the children who participated in the program, took part in evaluating the program through self-administered questionnaires after the program ended. The questionnaire contained variables of general characteristics, education satisfaction, nutrition knowledge, eating attitude and behavior concerning unfamiliar foods. The score of nutrition knowledge was improved in educated children (P < 0.05). Food neophobia score towards unfamiliar foods (P < 0.05) was increased in educated children, but there are no changes in eating behaviors in all groups towards unfamiliar foods. In conclusion, sensory education is useful for having a positive eating attitude among children. Its consistent implementation could lead to healthier and well-balanced eating behaviors for children.

• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.158-158
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• 2005