• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.812-825
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the importance and performance level of sodium reduction practices in school meal service by school nutrition teachers and dietitians, and compared them according to school level and placement of the school nutrition teacher. SUBJECTS/METHODS: An online survey was conducted with 608 nutrition teachers and dietitians in schools in the Republic of Korea from September 28 to November 12, 2021 (response rate: 57%). The questionnaire comprised 11 items related to sodium reduction practices (purchasing, food preparation and serving, and education). The importance and performance level of each item was rated on a 5-point scale. The mean differences were analyzed using t-tests or one-way analyses of variance and Duncan's post-hoc tests. An importance-performance analysis was performed on sodium reduction practices. RESULTS: Participating in sodium reduction education, sodium reduction education for cooks, and sodium reduction education for students were assessed to have high importance but low performance. Overall, the higher the school level, the lower was the importance level of sodium reduction practices. The performance in kindergartens and elementary schools was higher than that in middle and high schools. The importance in the purchasing category perceived by dietitians was lower as compared to nutrition teachers. In addition, the performance in the purchasing, food preparation and serving, and education categories perceived by dietitians was lower than those of nutrition teachers. CONCLUSION: Sodium reduction education for nutrition teachers and dietitians, cooks, and students should prioritize practicing sodium reduction in school meal service. Specific guidelines for managing sodium reduction at all stages-purchasing, food preparation, and serving-should also be developed. The results could be used as basic data to reduce the sodium content in school meals.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.352-362
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine portion sizes and nutritional quality of foods served to children at Community Child Centers (CCCs), July 2014, in Korea. A survey was administered to foodservice employees working at CCCs. Thirty-nine participants completed the self-administered questionnaire regarding CCCs foodservice practices. In the weight test, fifteen volunteers of demonstrated typical portion sizes for $5^{th}$ grade elementary school students. Nutrition knowledge scores were significantly different between foodservice employees with experience taking a foodservice class for one year (6.04 out of 10.0 points) and those without experience (4.58 points). Foodservice employees with experience taking a foodservice class scored significantly higher in performing meal serving practices, e.g., wearing a sanitary cap and apron when serving food, than those without experience. The amount of foods served for children did not meet standard serving sizes; portion sizes of rice, soup, main dish, side dish and kimchi served by foodservice employees were 87.3%, 63.2%, 56.5%, 37.1% and 81.3% of standard serving sizes, respectively. When energy and nutrient intakes from portion sizes were calculated, energy, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin and calcium intakes did not meet standards for nutrition control of school meals. However, protein, vitamin C and iron intakes met more than 100.0% of standards. These findings suggest that foodservice employees with experience taking a foodservice class apply their knowledge to foodservice practices. Although portion sizes can influence energy and nutrient intakes in children, the actual portion sizes served by CCCs foodservice employees were inadequate and did not meet standards for serving size and nutrition. Thus, all CCCs foodservice employees need to receive foodservice education and be provided guidelines regarding portion sizes for children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.289-297
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to determine the difference of Importance and Performance Related service management and feeding practices of teachers at mealtime in childcare centers. Methods: In December, 2013, questionnaires were completed by teachers working at childcare centers in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. A total of 179 teachers responded to questions regarding perceived importance and degree of performing related service management and feeding practices at mealtime in childcare centers. Factor analysis and Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) were used. Results: Four factors including 11 items were represented by factor analysis: 'Personal hygiene management', 'Feeding practice', 'Food material management', and 'Service at serving foods'. For 'Personal hygiene management', scores for perception on importance and performance were 4.42 and 3.84 points of 5 that were the lowest among factors. As a result of IPA, teachers were aware of the importance and performed well, 'Encouraging and praising children's eating habits at mealtime', 'Giving thanks before and after a meal', and 'Sitting and eating with children at mealtime' belonged to 'Feeding practice'; whereas they were not aware of the importance and performed insufficiently, 'Wearing the hygiene hat for serving foods', 'Wearing disposable gloves for serving foods', and 'Wearing the apron for serving foods' belonged to 'Personal hygiene management'. Conclusion: For children's health and safety in foodservice at childcare centers, personal hygiene management is very important when cooking as well as serving food. The results suggest that education targeting personal hygiene management is necessary for management of hygiene by teachers while serving food in childcare centers. In addition, guidelines on service management and feeding practice are needed for teachers working at childcare centers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.133-157
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to figure out requirements and considerations of guidelines for libraries serving active older adults in Korea. The research data were collected by examining domestic laws and policies, foreign library guidelines and service practices. Two focus group interviews were also conducted with 10 librarians of Seoul metropolitan area. The research findings were the following: Specific guidelines should be set up including sections of information resources, human resources, facilities, service & programs, and promotion & marketing. The guideline should also include not only solutions for improving digital literacy of old adults but solving librarians' difficulties with serving old adults.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.323-328
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• 2015

In order to provide efficient information ensuring school food safety, this current study investigated the relationship between general characteristics of food service operation and food hygiene practices and employee's attitudes toward food hygiene education and food hygiene practices. Data were collected from a total of 185 school food service employees in the GyeongSangNam-do area. As for the differences in the overall the evaluation of sanitary practice level in accordance with the general characteristics about the school food service employees, there were significant differences in the type of school food service and times of serving food per day. Also, hygiene practices in solo foodservice were better than in joint foodservice. The respondents who had positive attitudes toward food safety education showed better food safety practices. It is recommended that consistent food safety education based on various methods can contribute to appropriate food safety performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.381-387
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• 2006

This study was conducted to evaluate sanitary managment practices of institutional foodservice employees in Daejeon and Chungnam areas, and to suggest a guideline for an effective safety & sanitary managment of the institutional foodservice. The subjects consist of 782 employees in 80 institutional foodservice, respectively. The collected data was processed using the SPSS V.10.0 package for descriptive analysis. The results of this study were summarized as follows. The employees were female(97.2%), over 41 age(68.1%), high school(51.0%), less than 1-5 years(52.8%) of total career in the institutional foodservice. Employment status was contract(64.2%) and cook's certification w3s not applicable(80.1%). The institutional foodservice was over 1,000 number(65.0%) of average serving per day and operations format was direct(69.6%) management and 11-20 number of employees for cooking were 58.2%. Employees(96.0%) were received sanitation training and 82.4% of them have been monthly educated. Sanitation training instructor was dietitian 91.6%. The rating of sanitary management practices was food handling 4.36/5.00, food products management 4.32/5.00, personal hygiene 4.31/5.00, equipments and tools handing 4.18/5.00. The employees, who were educated in the sanitation training, presented significantly higher rates of the sanitary management practices than of the uneducated employess. Therefore, the institutional foodservice operations will have to pay special attention to sanitation training program of the employees. The suitable methods of sanitation training must be developed to improve the practical use of sanitary management by employees and institutional foodservice. Also, to enhance these practices, it is necessary to establish the countermeasure to care for safety & sanitary management of the institutional foodservice.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.304-317
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the importance and performance of sodium reduction practices among childcare center cooks in the Yongin area before and after a 3-month salinometer support program. Methods: In total, 313 cooks employed in childcare centers in Yongin were surveyed before and after participating in a salinometer support program. The survey included questions on general information, sodium-related dietary habits, and perceived importance and performance levels of sodium reduction approaches in the purchasing, cooking, and serving areas. The centers were divided into childcare centers registered as group-feeding facilities (FS group, n = 68) and those not registered as such (non-FS group, n = 245). The differences between the two groups were analyzed. Results: The overall importance levels increased significantly after the program in both the FS-group (P < 0.001) and non-FS group (P = 0.005). The overall performance levels also increased significantly in both groups (P < 0.001 for all). Consequently, the significant difference between the importance and performance levels disappeared in both groups after the program. However, unlike the FS group, which showed no significant differences between the importance and performance levels after the program in all three areas, the non-FS group still demonstrated lower performance levels than importance levels in the purchasing (P = 0.011) and serving (P = 0.034) areas after the program. Conclusions: The use of salinometers significantly enhanced the performance and importance of low-sodium management practices among cooks in childcare centers, especially in the FS group. The continuous monitoring of salinity measurements and tailored education specialized for the FS and non-FS groups are recommended.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.112-124
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate how child-care teachers participate, practice mealtime instruction, and perceive difficulties in food service, focusing on comparison between the teachers caring two different age groups: children younger than three years (Younger Group) and those three years or older (Older Group). Questionnaires were distributed to 151 child-care centers in Kwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea during December, 2011. Only the data from 25 child-care centers, where two respective teachers in charge of Younger Group and Older Group completed the questionnaires, were analyzed. The results showed that there was no difference in terms of child-care teachers' participation in food service practice between the two groups, except for serving method; 'Pre-plated' serving was used significantly more often in Younger Group, whereas 'Line-up' serving was used in Older Group. Approximately, three quarters of the child-care centers had policies or guidelines on mealtime instruction. During mealtime, child-care teachers tended to use frequently verbal instructions such as "sit up straight when you eat" about eating manner, "don't be picky with your food" about eating habit, and "wash your hands before eating" about eating procedure in both the groups. There was no statistically significant difference regarding child-care teachers' perceived difficulties in food service between the two groups. These results indicated that child-care teachers' participation and mealtime instruction in food service did not differ between the two age groups, although children's development of digestion and eating skill differed by age. Therefore, training should be provided to child-care teachers about food service practices and mealtime instruction appropriate to children's age.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.299-309
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition education with nutrition services provided by dietitians who were placed in child care facilities from the Korean Dietetic Association. For this, we investigated the levels of nutrition knowledge and dietary intakes of children who attended child-care centers as well as dietary practices of children assessed by their parents. The treatment for children consisted of nutrition education and food service activities that are provided by the dietitian who have 3 to 5 years experience. Nutrition education was implemented during 10 weeks, 20 times, and a total 400 min and it's effectiveness was evaluated by questionnaire. Data were obtained for 123 children aged 4 to 5 years old who attended four child-care centers, one for a control group and 3 for intervention groups. Dietary intakes were investigated by measuring one-serving size and plate waste a of child for one-day dietary records before and after nutrition education. The levels of nutrition knowledge of children improved showing 70.80 points before to 83.45 points after nutrition education (p<0.001). Dietary intakes of the children after nutrition service increased significantly on cooked rice (133.66 g), Kimchi (19.41 g), side dish of meat/fish (48.40 g), and side dish of vegetables (24.88 g). Dietary practices of children after treatment also improved especially 'eat diverse meat, fish, egg, and bean' and 'never leave plate waste'. To summarize, this study pointed out that nutrition service and nutrition education provided by dietitians had influences on increases of the nutrition knowledge, dietary intake, and dietary practices. Therefore, placement of dietitians needs to extend to child care facilities from the 100 persons-over-capacity facility to the 50 persons-over-capacity facility, for providing professional service such as nutrition education and nutrition counseling.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 1986

Four types of restaurants in Seoul city area were aSsessed in terms of the sanitary conditions and practices, and the microbiological quality. Sanitary check-lists were developed to evaluate the sanitary condition of sampled restaurants. Subjective samples were randomly selected based on the distribution factors of areas, types, and sizes. Microbiological tests on foods, equipments, and utensils were done according to standard procedures and included total plate count and coli forms. Singnificant differences among types or sizes were determined by using one-way analysis of variance. Correlation coefficients were calculated to determine significant relationships between sanitary scores and microbiological counts. The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1) Sanitary condition of kitchen and dining areas as well as the sanitary practices of employees were evaluated as the unsatisfactory state with potentially hazardous practices observed. 2) The microbiological quality of food items with high cooking temperature was in good condition, but most food items showed high levels of microbiological counts mainly due to the improper food handling practices of employees. 3) The sanitary conditions of equipment and utensils which were used at preparation and cooking phases, and food containers which were used at the serving phase, were crucial. Serveal guidelines were suggested for the improvement of the working environment as well as the food Quality.