OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the status and need for nutrition and dietary life education among nutrition teachers at schools. These characteristics were analyzed if they were different between elementary schools and middle-high schools. METHODS: Subjects were 151 nutrition teachers from 70 elementary schools, 41 middle schools and 40 high schools in 17 cities nationwide selected by two-stage stratified cluster sampling process. Survey questionnaires included the items on general characteristics, status and need assessment for nutrition and dietary life education. Chi-square test or t-test was used for data analysis by school groups. RESULTS: Nutrition education was implemented at 65.7% of elementary schools and 51.9% of middle-high schools. Nutrition education was mainly performed in 'discretionary activities·extracurricular activities' at elementary school and through 'newsletters, school homepage, foodservice bulletin board' at middle-high school (p<0.001). The most needed topic for nutrition education in nutrition teachers was 'healthy dietary habits and table manners' and this was not significantly different by school groups. Responses on adequate frequency (p<0.01), methods used for nutrition education (p<001), materials for nutrition education (p<0.001), information sources for nutrition education (p<0.001) were significantly different by school groups. Major tasks for activating nutrition education included 'securing the time for implementing nutrition education by reducing work loads' and 'developing standardized nutrition education materials' in schools. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition education at schools might be activated by improving working conditions of nutrition teachers and developing the practical programs that reflect the needs of nutrition teachers.
Adolescent ; Child ; Education* ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Needs Assessment ; Statistics as Topic

The purposes of this study were 1) to analyze the relationship between brand equity factors ie brand awareness, brand image, brand preference and brand loyalty and 2) to suggest the strategy for brand management of contract food service management company. The developed questionnaires were distributed to the college and university students in Incheon area from September 20 to September 24 in 2004. Total 198 questionnaires were used for the final data analysis with response rate of 82.5%. For the statistical analysis, the descriptive analysis, factor analysis, pearson correlation analysis, and regression analysis were conducted by using SPSS Win (10.0). The results of this study showed that the following 5 hypotheses were supported. Hypothesis 1: The brand awareness of the contract foodservice company affects positively the brand image of that. Hypothesis 2: The brand image of the contract foodservice company affects positively the brand preference of that. Hypothesis 3: The brand awareness of the contract foodservice company affects positively the brand preference of that. Hypothesis 4: The brand preference of the contract foodservice company affects positively the brand royalty of that. Hypothesis 5: The brand image of the contract foodservice company affects positively the brand loyalty of that. As a conclusion, the brand awareness has a positive effect on the brand image and brand preference significantly, so it is recommended that the contract foodservice company should focus on improving the brand awareness as a brand strategy. And the brand preference and brand image have the significant effect on the brand loyalty. Therefore the company should strive to strengthen the brand loyalty though building brand preference and brand image, because the brand loyalty brings about the customer's more visiting the foodservices, which is directly related to the profitabilities of the contract foodservice management company.
Food Services ; Humans ; Incheon* ; Statistics as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo investigate the lead and cadmium pollution in edible mushrooms sold in Beijing.

METHODS146 samples of 14 species were collected form 25 markets during the period of Mar. through May, 2007 in Beijing. The pollution of lead and cadmium were analyzed respectively according to the standard of GB/T5009. 12-2003 and GB 7096-2003.

RESULTSThe content of lead and cadmium in edible mushrooms was ND--1.592 mg/kg, ND--0.550 mg/kg, respectively, both lower than the allowable content prescribed by The National Ministry of Health.

CONCLUSIONThe contents of lead and cadmium in the mushrooms marketed in Beijing are in safe ranges. It is worthy of mentioning the variation coefficients of heavy metal concentrations existing in edible mushrooms.

Agaricales ; Cadmium ; analysis ; China ; Food Contamination ; statistics & numerical data ; Food Inspection ; Lead ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the current feeding status of infants and young children under 2 years old in rural areas of Hubei province.

METHODSThe study was conducted by cluster random sampling from September 2009 to march 2010. The data on breastfeeding and complementary food supplement of the 1 197 infants and young children aged 0-23 months in 8 counties of Hubei province were collected through questionnaires. The feeding status was analyzed according to the WHO 2008 edition of Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices.

RESULTSA total of 1 197 children aged 0-23 months were investigated. The rate of ever breastfeeding of children aged 0-23 months reached up to 93.9% (1 124/1 197), while the percentage of early initiation of breastfeeding was only 22.0% (263/1 197). The rates of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, continued breastfeeding for 1 year, and continued breastfeeding for 2 years were 72.1% (277/384), 17.0% (26/153) and 4.9% (7/144), respectively. The median time of giving complementary food was the 6th month and the weaning time was the 9th month. The rate of complementary food supplemented from 6th-8th month in time was 61.8% (444/718) . The rates of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, minimum acceptable diet, and consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods among children aged 6-23 months were 61.7% (502/813), 81.5% (663/813), 54.4% (442/813) and 50.1% (407/813), respectively.

CONCLUSIONLate initiation of breastfeeding, non-continued breastfeeding, giving complementary food too early or too late, inadequate category and frequency of complementary food, and the low rate of consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods were the main issues to be concerned on infant feeding in rural areas of Hubei province.

Breast Feeding ; statistics & numerical data ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Diet Surveys ; statistics & numerical data ; Feeding Behavior ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Food ; statistics & numerical data ; Rural Population ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Weaning

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to identify differences in BMI between early and late elderly people, and factors having influence of them. METHODS: This study is an analysis of secondary data that used the raw materials from the KNHANES from 2008 to 2010. The subjects involved in the final analysis were 4,772 elders aged 65 or higher. Descriptive statistics, chi2-test and F-test, and CSGLM from the complex sample design were used for the data analysis with SPSS/WIN 19.0. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in the socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors and diet habits between early and late elderly people. Adjusted for gender, location of residence, and living alone, the factors that affected BMI of the early elderly people included current smoking status, number of disease, difficulty in chewing, and number of meals per day while those that affected BMI of the late elderly people were current smoking status, number of disease, self-rated health, and difficulty in chewing. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that we should consider age-specific traits for monitoring the weight status of the elderly and providing appropriate weight management programs for the elderly.
Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Food Habits ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Mastication ; Meals ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Statistics as Topic

The purposes of the study were to identify knowledge and skill levels required for effective nutrition teachers and to compare perceived need and dietitians' self-evaluation of the knowledge and skills. A total of 60 knowledge statements and 70 skill statements associated with 11 job functional areas were specified through a literature review and expert panel reviews. A total of 457 dietitians working at school foodservices in Seoul and Gyeonggi province were surveyed using a self-administrated questionnaire and 148 responses were returned. Excluding responses with significant missing data, 142 responses were used for data analysis. In terms of knowledge, 'sanitation, food safety and employee safety (4.60)' category received the highest perceived need score, followed by 'nutrition education (4.56)' and 'nutrition counseling (4.45).' The knowledge category that received the highest self-evaluation was 'nutrition and menu management (3.66)' while the category that received the lowest self-evaluation was 'teaching practices (2.83).' In terms of skills, the highest perceived need was associated with 'nutrition education (4.49)', followed by 'sanitation, food safety and employee safety (4.46)' and 'nutrition counseling (4.39).' The dietitians rated their skills related to 'sanitation, food safety and employee safety (3.67)' the highest but their skills related to 'teaching practices (2.84)' the lowest. The dietitians' self-evaluated knowledge and skill scores were significantly lower than their perceived need of the knowledge and skills in all job functional areas (P < 0.001). A quadratic analysis based on the requirement and self-evaluation of the knowledge and skills revealed that priorities of the education programs targeting school nutrition teachers or students preparing to be a nutrition teacher should be placed on improving knowledge and skills related to nutrition education, nutrition counseling, teaching practices, sanitation and employee safety, and nutrition and menu management. Educational programs for nutrition teachers should be designed to decrease the gaps between the need and self-evaluation of the knowledge and skills for effective nutrition teachers. The findings of the study can be used to develop education materials for nutrition teachers. The knowledge and skills identified in the study should be updated and revised regularly to reflect changes in regulations and current practices in school foodservice programs.
Counseling ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Food Safety ; Humans ; Sanitation ; Social Control, Formal ; Statistics as Topic

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of food allergy, food allergy knowledge, and perception on food allergen labelling along with management of substitute meals in school foodservice in elementary school students in Jeju, South Korea. METHODS: Six elementary schools in Jeju-si were randomly selected, and the higher grade elementary school students (n=1,500), from fourth graders to sixth graders, were surveyed using a questionnaire in July 2014. A total of 1,000 responses were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The percentage of students who had experienced food allergy was 16.7%; 26.4% had been diagnosed as having a food allergy by doctors. Milk, crabs, and shrimps were the most frequent allergenic foods with common symptoms including urticaria followed by itching, and vomiting. As the student's grade went up, the knowledge scores on food allergy showed a significant increase. Although students with and without food allergy experience had a similar level of knowledge on food allergy and perception on food allergen labelling, students with food allergy experience had a significantly lower level of healthy dietary practices. Last, only 20.4% of students with food allergies were offered substitute meals by school foodservices, and 30.8% of students received food allergy education. CONCLUSION: For prevention and management of food allergies in school foodservice, schools should provide an individualized substitute meal plan and food allergy education to students, parents, and teachers.
Education* ; Food Hypersensitivity* ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals ; Milk ; Parents ; Prevalence ; Pruritus ; Statistics as Topic ; Urticaria ; Vomiting

This study was a correlation study to analyze the effects of smartphone usage time on food choice perceptions and behavior in middle school students in Seoul areas. The subjects to be surveyed were middle school students attending junior high schools in Mapo-gu, Seoul. A total of 133, 102, and 102 students were in the first second, and third grades, respectively. The usage time of smartphones was the weekday and weekend usage time except for the call function. Food choice perception and its behavior as dietary habits were constructed referring to previous research and food balance wheels data for the correct dietary habits of the Ministry of Health & Welfare and Korean Nutrition Society. The food choice behavior was categorized into non-recommended food and recommended food. The results are summarized as follows. First, the longer the time spent on smartphones, the less favorable the perception of correct food choices. Second, the higher the dependence on smartphones, the less favorable the perception of correct food choices. Third, the correct perception of food choices has been shown to reduce food choices, known as non-recommended foods. In addition, proper perception of food choices has been shown to increase the choice of recommended foods. In conclusion, the usage time and reliance of smartphones of middle school students was found to affect the food choice behavior by lowering the perception of correct food choices. This research is expected to form the basis for the development of programs and educational materials that can be of assistance to adolescents who are experiencing difficulties.
Adolescent ; Choice Behavior ; Eating ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Seoul ; Smartphone ; Statistics as Topic

OBJECTIVETo investigate the nutrition status, breast feeding and complementary feeding among children under 2 years of age in Beijing.

METHODSA stratified cluster randomly sampling method was used. After having got the compliance a questionnaire survey was carried out to 422 children < 2 year-old in total 18 districts of Beijing.

RESULTSThe average infant birth weight was 3325 g, the rate of weight (2500 g and > or = 4000 g were 2.8% and 13.0% respectively. The rate of exclusive breast-feeding, partial breast-feeding, bottle-feeding of infant under 4 months was 56.6%, 33.9% and 9.5% respectively. The average weaning time was 7.4 months. The rate of complementary feeding of infant up to 6 months was 99.4%. The average ages for addition of complementary feeding such as cereal, vegetable and fruit, egg, oil, nutrients in rural areas were later than those in urban.

CONCLUSIONIt is important to promote breast feeding and improve complementary feeding by education and intervention.

Bottle Feeding ; statistics & numerical data ; Breast Feeding ; statistics & numerical data ; China ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Food ; statistics & numerical data ; Infant, Newborn ; Nutrition Surveys ; Rural Population ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; statistics & numerical data

The method has been developed to accurately identify the magnitude of health risks and provide scientific evidence for implementation of risk management in food safety. It combines two parameters including consequence and likelihood of adverse effects based on risk matrix. Score definitions and classification for the consequence and the likelihood of adverse effects are proposed. The risk score identifies the intersection of consequence and likelihood in risk matrix represents its health risk level with different colors: 'low', 'medium', 'high'. Its use in an actual case is shown.
Consumer Product Safety ; Food ; classification ; Food Analysis ; methods ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Likelihood Functions ; Risk Assessment ; Trans Fatty Acids ; adverse effects ; analysis