Assessment of Functional Food Consumption Among the Working Women in Korea.
- Author:
Min Ki CHANG
1
;
Yangha KIM
Author Information
1. Graduate School of Clinical Health Sciences, Department of Nutritional Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
functional food;
working women;
nutritional supplement;
consumption status
- MeSH:
Aged;
Female;
Functional Food;
Humans;
Korea;
Surveys and Questionnaires;
Women, Working
- From:The Korean Journal of Nutrition
2008;41(8):832-838
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to identify the status of health functional food consumption of working women. The 558 subjects of the study were aged between 10-60 years, and had previous experiences of consuming health functional foods. The majority of the subjects lived in Seoul, and some lived in the Gyeonggi Province . The most prevalent goals that the subjects hoped to achieve by consuming health functional foods were improvement of physical health status and reduction of exhaustion. Other goals included supplement of nutrition, and prevention or treatment of diseases. Those who were older or who possessed a high BMI spent more expenses on health functional foods, and showed a higher intake frequency as well as longer periods of consumption. Subjects placed in the older group showed a lower level of knowledge related to functional foods, which turned out to be statistically significant. Most of the respondents answered that their knowledge related to functional foods was picked up from listening to others. In conclusion, we were able to observe that groups with elder working women and high BMI show higher consumption and expense rates of health functional foods, as well as longer periods of consumption. However, they show a minimum level of knowledge related to functional foods. According to our results, these subjects should seek practical help in order to select functional foods that will aid their health, and learn the proper method of consumption. In order to reduce inaccurate consumption of health functional foods, it is imperative that more in-depth study is carried out in this field.
