This study was carried out to investigate the effects of breakfast service on nutritional status, hematological status, and attentiveness of children in low-income families. The subjects were 19 boys and 13 girls between 7 and 11 years old. The subjects were divided into a control group and a breakfast service (BS) group, in which 12 boys and 5 girls received breakfast from February 1 to December 31, 2010. The results can be summarized as follows: intakes of energy, protein, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B2, niacin, and vitamin C in the BS group were significantly higher than those in the control group. In the BS group, the intakes of calcium, folic acid, and vitamin C were lower than 75% of recommended intake levels. There were no significant differences in the total blood protein level and total cholesterol level between the BS group and control group. A blood albumin level was significantly higher in the BS group than in the control group. Systolic blood pressure was higher in the BS group than in the control group, whereas the diastolic blood pressure showed no significant difference between the groups. A dietary attitude score increased according to breakfast service and nutritional education. No significant differences were found in the capacity value and continuity value between the two groups, but the control value was significantly higher in the BS group than in the control group. Therefore, to sustain the effect of breakfast service and improve nutritional status for children skipping breakfast in low-income families, nutrition intervention services, as well as legal and financial support by the government should be provided.
Ascorbic Acid ; Blood Pressure ; Breakfast ; Calcium ; Child ; Cholesterol ; Financial Support ; Folic Acid ; Humans ; Iron ; Niacin ; Nutritional Status ; Riboflavin ; Vitamin A ; Zinc

The present study was performed to evaluate the job training needs of school nutrition teachers in order to enhance their specialty. Three hundred and forty questionnaires were distributed to school nutrition teachers working at primary and high schools in the Gyeongbuk area while 45 were distributed to professors during 2010~2011. Three hundred and two questionnaires from school nutrition teachers and 33 from professors were returned and analyzed. The rate of teachers practicing nutrition education was 54%, and the educational content was obtained mainly from the internet. The top three problems the teachers encountered were 'lack of standardized educational materials', 'inexperience of teaching', and 'insufficiency of expert knowledge'. The teachers recognized 'training program' as the best solution. However, the job training program operated immediately after teachers were appointed scored only 3.03 out of 5.00. Important contents of the training program ranked highly by the teachers were 'development of education materials', 'nutrition counseling', and 'teaching method'. The professors included 'expert knowledge' in their top three contents. Both the teachers and professors agreed to increase the frequency of 'practice' in training methods. Other factors the teachers considered to be important were high quality, diversity, ability of the instructor, training cycle, and the institution in charge. From these results, it can be concluded that efficient job training programs are needed for school nutrition teachers according to the importance of the education contents and training methods. It is therefore suggested that a cooperation committee be composed of an educator, educatee, and related personal in a local education office in order to operate the program.
Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Internet ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The purpose of this study was to examine the dietary behaviors, processed food preferences, and awareness levels of nutrition labels among female university students living in middle region by breakfast eating. A total of 243 students (breakfast eating group: 153, breakfast skipping group: 90) were surveyed from April to May of 2011. The results are summarized as follows: Skipping breakfast (SB) group had a significantly higher frequency of skipping lunch and dinner compared with the eating breakfast (EB) group (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively). In the EB group, food labels were identified sometimes (31.8%), frequently (29.1%), and rarely (28.5%). In the SB group, food labels were identified rarely (33.3%), sometimes (27.8%), and frequently (26.7%). The EB group used food labels for comparing price and weight of products more frequently than the SB group (P<0.05). In the EB group, nutrition labels were identified sometimes (38.0%), frequently (28.1%), and rarely (24.8%). In the SB group, nutrition labels were identified rarely (32.6%), sometimes (30.3%), and frequently (21.4%). The EB group used food labels for identifying nutrient contents more often and for weight control more less than the SB group (P<0.05, P<0.05, respectively). The main reason for not identifying nutrition label of the processed foods was 'not being interested (55.5%)' in the SB group (P<0.05). Therefore, education programs that emphasize the importance of eating breakfast, and reading food and nutrition labels need to be developed for university students.
Breakfast ; Eating ; Female ; Food Preferences ; Humans ; Lunch ; Meals

To examine the effect of obesity on volume perception according to size and color of rice bowl, we divided female college students into a normal weight group (<30% fat mass, n=100) and obese group (> or =30% fat mass, n=83) and then measured perceived volume of rice bowls of various sizes (general size; 350 ml vs. small size; 188 ml) and color (yellow, white, blue, and black) containing the same amount of cooked white rice (210 g). Normal weight group perceived that the general rice bowl contained significantly more cooked white rice compared to the small rice bowl. In contrast, the obese group perceived that the general rice bowl contained significantly less cooked white rice than the small rice bowl. The estimated variance in perceived volume of both bowls was significantly bigger in the obese group compared to the normal group. There were no differences in perceived volume among any of the subjects (both normal and obese groups) according to rice bowl color. However, the estimated variance in perceived volume in the obese group was significantly larger than that in the normal group for all of the rice bowls. In conclusion, rice bowl size and color might affect volume perception, and volume perception in obese people may be different from that of normal weight people.
Female ; Humans ; Obesity

This study was conducted to provide basic information on toothbrushing habits, snack intake frequency, and current dental caries in elementary school students. A total of 188 students (105 boys and 83 girls) in Changwon city participated in this study. Dental examination was conducted by two dental hygienists in July, 2010. The results were as follows. Exactly 86.2% of students were shown to have dental caries, which includes a sealant and removed teeth due to decay. The average number of teeth with dental caries per student was 3.8. Exactly 60.6% of students were shown to maintain correct toothbrushing habits to prevent dental caries, but only 12.8% brushed their teeth immediately after a meal or snack. Exactly 82.4% percent of participants received toothbrushing education, 47.1% of them received it from an expert, 43.9% received from their parents, and 28.2% used tooth paste with fluorine. Regarding snack intake frequency, ice cream was the most consumed cariogenic food and white milk was the most consumed protective food. The >=7 teeth with dental caries group consumed higher frequency of carbonated beverages intake than the 'no dental caries' group (P<0.05), and the '5~6 teeth with dental caries' group consumed higher frequency of chocolate intake than 'no dental caries' group (P<0.05).
Cacao ; Carbonated Beverages ; Dental Caries ; Dental Hygienists ; Fluorine ; Humans ; Ice Cream ; Meals ; Milk ; Parents ; Snacks ; Tooth ; Toothbrushing

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nutrient intakes, nutritional knowledge, food habits, and lifestyle behaviors of moderately or severely obese children living in the Kyonggi-do area. The subjects in this study were 37 obese children with an obesity index higher than 130% in the forth to sixth grades of elementary school. Anthropometric measurements, 24-hour recall of dietary intakes, and a survey on nutritional knowledge, food habits, and lifestyles behavior were conducted in the 37 obese children (25 boys and 12 girls). The average age, body weight, BMI, and Rohrer Index were 12.4 years, 68.6 kg, 29.6 kg/m2, and 194.9 in boys and 12.7 years, 65.7 kg, 29.8 kg/m2, and 201.8 in girls, respectively. The percentage of correct answers on nutritional knowledge and nutritional attitude score/max score were 85.8% and 23.0/50 in boys and 87.0% and 17.5/50 in girls, respectively. Except for calcium (85.3%) in girls and calcium (62.7%) and folic acid (83.3%) in boys, the average daily nutrient intakes percentages of nutrients were greater than the DRIs values (107.9~327.3% in boys and 103.0~416.0% in girls). This study showed the existence of some problems associated with obesity, such as higher frequency of skipping breakfast, irregular meal times, unbalanced diet, lack of intake of some nutrients, low nutritional attitude, lack of physical activity, and time management in obese children. These results suggest that a systematic education program including nutritional education on balanced diet, good eating habits and behaviors, and importance of eating breakfast and meal regularity must be emphasized to improve nutrient intakes and food habits in obese children. Obese children also require a more concentrated program that includes physical activity, weight reduction, and weight maintenance strategies to improve their life habits.
Body Weight ; Breakfast ; Calcium ; Child ; Diet ; Eating ; Folic Acid ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Life Style ; Meals ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Time Management ; Weight Loss

This study was designed to compare the dietary habits of women's university students according to residence type. The subjects were 140 females divided into four groups. The first group consisted of students residing at home with their parents (home, n=39), the second group consisted of students residing in a dormitory (dormitory, n=34), the third group consisted of students residing in a boarding house (boarding, n=36), and the fourth group consisted of self-boarding students (self-boarding, n=31). The average age was 21.9 years, and the BMI levels of the groups were 20.8 kg/m2, 19.6 kg/m2, 20.5 kg/m2, and 19.7 kg/m2, respectively. The 'home' group had higher dietary regularity than the other groups (P<0.05). The boarding group and self-boarding group were more likely to eat out and skip breakfast than the home and dormitory groups (P<0.05). All groups indicated that frequency of snacking was higher than 1 time per day, but there was no significant difference between the groups. The dormitory and boarding groups spent less time consuming meals than the other groups. In conclusion, women's university students show different dietary behaviors according to residence type. Especially, the dormitory, boarding, and self-boarding groups need to improve their dietary habits through high quality education and nutritional support at college cafeterias.
Breakfast ; Female ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Meals ; Nutritional Support ; Parents ; Snacks

This study was performed to determine lunch eating patterns and compare dietary habits among university students according to major lunch place. The subjects were 800 students from a university in Gyeonggi-do, and information was obtained by self-administered questionnaire. Data were compared among groups according to major lunch place (school cafeteria n=236, off-campus private restaurant n=73, on-campus private food shop n=134, delivery food n=119, convenient store n=238). Compared to male students, more female students ate at convenient stores (37.8% vs. 17.5%, respectively) while less ate at school cafeterias as the major lunch place. The on-campus private food shop group (19.1 year) were younger than the other groups (20.4∼20.8 year). Dietary habits were significantly better in the school cafeteria group (65.55 out of 100) than in the other groups (60.33∼62.66) (P<0.01). However, the satisfaction with school cafeterias was significantly lower than those with the other lunch places (P<0.01), and the most frequently answered reason for dissatisfaction was "not taste good" (51.0%). Despite having the lowest satisfaction among the five lunch places, eating at school cafeterias may be associated with better dietary habits in university students. Therefore, this study is able to provide basis for encouraging school cafeteria utilization for university students and for strategy development to improve university students' lunches.
Eating* ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Lunch* ; Male ; Restaurants

This study was conducted to determine recognition of Chikhanwoo, promote its market competitiveness, and vitalize its uses in Korea. This research was carried out on 465 people, including 264 of the general public and 191 livestock farmers. For awareness of Chikhanwoo, 53.6% of the general public and 86.9% of livestock farmers recognized Chikhanwoo (P<0.001) through TV, Internet, news, magazines, and others. For consumption behaviors of Chikhanwoo meat, 4.3% of the general public and 1.9% of livestock farmers have purchased Chikhanwoo meat in the past. Most of them hinted at their intention to repurchase and highly intimated their wish to purchase on whether Chikhanwoo tastes better, is more nutritious and is safer than Hanwoo. In addition, they thought country of origin and price were the most important factors for purchasing (P<0.001). For recognition of the Hanwoo grading system, they preferred 1⁺⁺ and 1⁺, significantly (P<0.001). For need for quality certification, most respondents thought that the government should introduce a quality certification system for Chikhanwoo. For importance factor of prevalence of Chikhanwoo meat, marketability value had the highest degree of importance, followed by taste, quality, tradition and cooking methods (P<0.001). Results of this study show that domestic consumption of Chikhanwoo can be boosted by supplying Chikhanwoo meat with a differentiated taste and a safety assurance to the general public. There is also need to enhance genetic resources and improve brand value of Chikhanwoo. Continuous research and efforts should be made for the development of the livestock market.
Certification ; Cooking ; Farmers* ; Intention ; Internet ; Korea ; Livestock* ; Meat ; Periodicals as Topic ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

This study was conducted in order to compare weight control behaviors, eating disorder risk, and depression in female adolescents according to dieting experience during the last year. The subjects were 707 students attending a girls' high school in Seoul, and all the information was collected by self-administered questionnaire. Eating disorder risk and depression were determined by using EAT-26 (Eating Attitude Test-26) and PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), respectively. Data were compared between subjects with experience of dieting (320) and those without (387). More of the subjects with dieting experience were unsatisfied with their own body weights (76.9% vs. 44.2%, P<0.01) and weighed themselves frequently (P<0.01) compared to those without diet experience. EAT-26 (11.63±8.3 vs. 5.99±4.7, P<0.01) and PHQ-9 scores (7.05±4.6 vs. 6.00±4.4, P<0.01) were higher in subjects with dieting experience compared to their counterparts. Therefore, we concluded that dieting is associated with several undesirable psychological aspects such as eating disorder risk and depression in adolescent girls, and thus providing proper education is urgently needed to emphasizing importance of healthy weight and the danger of unnecessary dieting.
Adolescent ; Body Image* ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Depression* ; Diet* ; Eating* ; Education ; Feeding Behavior ; Female* ; Humans ; Seoul*