Introduction: While the relationship between obesity and caloric intake is widely accepted, the role of glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) to body mass index (BMI) remains equivocal. This study seeks to determine the daily glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) of usual diet of rural-dwelling Filipinos, and their relationship with body mass index (BMI). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reviewing the data of 139 adults from San Juan, Batangas. Average daily GI and GL were calculated from two-day food recall questionnaires. Spearman’s rank test was used to determine correlation of daily GI and GL with BMI; the mean BMI was compared among GI and GL tertiles using one-way ANOVA. Partial least squares regression was used to determine the contribution of food items to daily GI and GL. Results: No overall correlation was observed between daily GI or GL and BMI using Spearman’s rank. However, BMI was higher with increasing GI tertiles (p<0.0001) and GL tertiles (p=0.0108) among the males, but not females. Bread, coffeemix and sweets were major contributors to daily GI, while rice, bread/pastries and sweetened beverages were to daily GL. Leafy vegetables negatively contributed to both. Conclusion There is a positive relationship observed between daily GI and BMI, and daily GL and BMI among the men, but not women, in this population. Staple food with high GI like bread/pastries and sweetened beverages contributed most to both daily GI and GL, with the addition of rice for daily GL. Among Filipinos with marginal daily caloric intake, optimizing carbohydrate quality (low GI or GL) rather than limiting its quantity may be more appropriate. Future studies of prospective design and using objective methods of food intake reporting are recommended.
Glycemic Index ; Glycemic Load

The purpose of this study was to develop a fusion-food cooking program and apply that to sixth grade elementary school students, and to investigate its' effects on their knowledge, preferences, and perceptions of Korean traditional foods. The program focused on ten components. Students learned the general features of Korean traditional foods and Western foods in the 1st lesson. They learnt about kinds, nutrition value, and histories of kimchi, Tteok (rice cake), and Jeon (pan fried food), and cooked two fusion-foods of kimchi, Tteok, and Jeon each. As a result of learning about those food items, the students advanced their knowledge (p < 0.001) of kimchi, Tteok, and Jeon. Their preferences for Tteok (p < 0.05) and Jeon (p < 0.01) were increased, but those for kimchi remained unchanged. The interest (p < 0.05) and preferences (p < 0.01) for the general Korean traditional foods were increased. In conclusion, our results suggested that the fusion-food cooking program had the ability to improve elementary school students' perceptions of Korean traditional foods by increasing their knowledge, preferences, and interest in them. Furthermore it was considered that the program could help students understand the value of Korean traditional foods and in turn may encourage them to consume such food items more frequently. Since the fusion-food cooking activity program can be a good learning program as shown by the results of this study, more fusion-foods cooking activity programs, which are not discussed in this study, should be evaluated and developed in the future.
Cooking ; Humans ; Learning ; Nutritive Value

This study was conducted to characterize well-being menus and to examine the service frequency and profitability of those served in the contract-managed workplace foodservice. In-depth interviews were conducted with six persons who were in charge of menu management in the headquarters of six different foodservice management companies during March, 2007. In addition, 122 set menus consisting of 777 menu items, which were on one month menus served during January to April, 2007, were collected from three workplace operations managed by three different foodservice management companies. As a result of the in-depth interviews, four categories of well-being menu items were extracted: 'medicinal, functional menu item', 'environmentally- friendly menu item', 'natural food menu item', and 'harmful components-limiting menu item'. Accordingly, a well-being menu item was defined as 'a menu item with increased nutrition value or decreased health risk by changing food material or cooking method'. When the menu items (n=777) were analyzed by applying the definition and categories, approximately 14% of the items were identified as well-being menu items and most of them were either medicinal, functional (65%) or natural food menu items (33%). Approximately 59% of the 122 set menus included at least one well-being menu item, and therefore they were named the well-being set menus. These well-being set menus, however, were not significantly different from the rest set menus in terms of profitability as measured by the contribution margin. The results of this study could be useful for foodservice management companies to develop and plan well-being menus targeting workplace foodservice operations.
Cooking ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Nutritive Value

This study was carried out to evaluate nutritional quality of the dosirak severed by 3 Dosirak manufacturing establishment in Kangnung. The subjects of this study came from 3 different male high schools in Kangnung. The portion amounts of Dosirak were weighed and the food intake was measured by substracting the leftover from the averaged portion amount. The leftover was measured by a modified aggregate selection plate waste measurement technique. The nutrient intakes were analyzed by a computer aided nutritional analysis program for professionals(CAN pro). The menu of the dosirak was too simple. The total amount of Dosirak was 714g and the percent of plate waste was 714g and the percent of plate waste was 7.2%. The male high school students were taking adequate energy, but the nutrients which did not meet 75% of the 1/3RDA(Recommended Dietary Allowances) were Ca, Fe, and vitamin B2.
Adolescent* ; Eating ; Humans ; Male* ; Nutritive Value* ; Riboflavin

1296 individuals (897 males and 399 females) were measured for their heights, weights, body mass indices, the rate of overweight and obesity, and waist-hip ratio (WHR). Results: average height: 160 cm (in male) and 151 cm (in female); average weight: male 60 kg and female 52 kg; WHR>0.9 in male was 50.9% and in female was 32.6%, and among them 2.4% had WHR>1.0. The rate of overweight was 24.6% and obesity was 1.2%
Nutritive Value ; Public Health ; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Scientific evidence indicates that higher dietary fibre consumption protects against various chronic diseases and leads to recovery enhancement. Young corn ear is very rich in total dietary fibre (TDF). The study objective was to evaluate the effects of young corn ear addition on the nutritional composition, textural properties and sensory attributes of conventional cake. Methods: Wheat flour used in the preparation of conventional cake was substituted with different percentages (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) of young corn ear powder (YCP). Moisture, total ash, fat, protein and TDF content of conventional cake samples were investigated. Textural properties including firmness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness were examined. The aroma, colour, chewiness, tenderness, flavour and overall acceptance of conventional cake were evaluated via sensory evaluation. Results: The conventional cake with addition of 15% YCP recorded the highest moisture content. There was no predictable trend observed in the ash and fat content following the incorporation of YCP. Addition of 15% of YCP increased the protein content significantly while TDF content of conventional cake increased proportionally (1.42%-2.88%) with the level of YCP added. The incorporation of YCP did not produce any trend on all the textural properties of conventional cake. Conventional cake with 10% of YCP was the most preferred manifested by the highest scores in chewiness, tenderness and flavour attributes. Conclusion: In conclusion, 10% of YCP could be recommended as the ideal formulation in order to produce a healthier conventional cake without jeopardising acceptability.
Zea mays ; Dietary Fiber ; Nutritive Value

This study was conducted to investigate housewives' perception, interest and consumption of health drinks made in a health food stores, and to assess the relationship between nutritionally-related-variables and the consumption of health drinks. Data was collected from 518 housewives in Chonnam province. Among many items which housewives perceived about health drinks, three factors of 'preference health-care', 'quality convenience' and 'price' were found to be represented. Housewives' perception of 'preference health-care' was negatively correlated with nutritional knowledge. However, a positive correlation between the 'quality convenience' and eating habits was found. Consumption of health drinks was positively correlated with the diet management score, the perception and interest in health drinks. However, the inverse relationship between consumption of health drinks and nutritional knowledge was observed. Multiple regression analysis showed that the interest and factors of perception of health drinks. Consumption of health drinks was not based upon accurate knowledge concerning nutrition, but was based upon the consumers' perception of taste preference and healthful quality. Therefore, there is a need to educate consumers about the nutritional value of health drinks and how to use nutritional supplements.
Diet ; Eating ; Food, Organic* ; Jeollanam-do ; Nutritive Value

The objectives of this study were to investigate the current status of the Korean government-funded meal support program for low-income children through convenience stores and to evaluate the nutritional quality of the meal items available under the program. The POS data of three convenient stores where children had used their electronic meal cards most often in Seoul during January 2010 and the kinds and amounts of ingredients of the meals items available to the children were obtained from the headquarter of the convenient stores. A total of 5,081 transactions by 693 children included in the POS data was analyzed. In addition, nutritional contents of meal items, which were meal boxes (11 kinds), kimbab (13 kinds), rice balls (27 kinds), inari sushi (1 kind), and sandwiches (26 kinds), were analyzed with Can Pro 3.0. The results showed that children had purchased flavored-milk products most often. Children tended to purchase meal items together with drinks (60.9% of transactions), but some purchased drinks (27.6%) or meal items only (11.5%). Except for meal boxes, none of the meal items satisfied 1/3 of Estimated Energy Requirements of the 9-11 year-old boys per day. The average energy contents of different kinds of meal boxes, kimbabs, rice balls, and sandwiches were 619, 357, 200, and 380 kcal, respectively, and the energy content of a package of Inari sushi was 457 kcal. Vitamin C amount was found to be deficient in all the meal items, compared to 1/3 of Recommended Intake of the 9-11 year-old boys per day. The results of this study could be useful to develop nutritionally appropriate meal items for the convenient stores participating in the government-funded meal support program for children from low-income families.
Ascorbic Acid ; Child ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Humans ; Meals ; Nutritive Value

Mushroom cultivation has been started recently in Bangladesh. Awareness of the nutritional and medicinal importance of mushrooms is not extensive. In this study, the nutritional values of dietary mushrooms- Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus sajorcaju, Pleurotus florida and Calocybe indica that are very popular among the cultivated mushrooms in Bangladesh have been determined. These mushrooms were rich in proteins (20~25%) and fibers (13~24% in dry samples) and contained a lower amount of lipid (4 to 5%). The carbohydrate contents ranged from 37 to 48% (on the basis of dry weight). These were also rich in mineral contents (total ash content is 8~13%). The pileus and gills were protein and lipid rich and stripe was carbohydrate and fiber-rich. The moisture content of mushrooms ranged from 86 to 87.5%. Data of this study suggest that mushrooms are rich in nutritional value.
Agaricales ; Animals ; Bangladesh ; Florida ; Gills ; Minerals ; Nutritive Value ; Pleurotus ; Proteins

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To encourage healthier food choices for children in fast-food restaurants, many initiatives have been proposed. This study aimed to examine the effect of disclosing nutritional information on parents' meal choices for their children at fast-food restaurants in South Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: An online experimental survey using a menu board was conducted with 242 parents of children aged 2-12 years who dined with them at fast-food restaurants at least once a month. Participants were classified into two groups: the low-calorie group (n = 41) who chose at least one of the lowest calorie meals in each menu category, and the high-calorie group (n = 201) who did not. The attributes including perceived empowerment, use of provided nutritional information, and perceived difficulties were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The low-calorie group perceived significantly higher empowerment with the nutritional information provided than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.020). Additionally, the low-calorie group was more interested in nutrition labeling (P < 0.001) and considered the nutritional value of menus when selecting restaurants for their children more than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.017). The low-calorie group used the nutritional information provided when choosing meals for their children significantly more than did the high-calorie group (P < 0.001), but the high-calorie group had greater difficulty using the nutritional information provided (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that improving the empowerment of parents using nutritional information could be a strategy for promoting healthier parental food choices for their children at fast-food restaurants.
Child* ; Food Labeling ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals* ; Nutritive Value ; Parents ; Power (Psychology) ; Restaurants*