A Grounded Approach to Dietary Experiences in College Women

여대생의 다이어트 경험에 관한 근거이론적 접근

This research is intended to study the dietary experiences by college women to promote women's health through the proper diet. The approach method was used grounded theory. The participants were selected 3 colleges in Seoul, Inchon, and Cheongju. The selected 15 women were college students who had a history of dietary experiences or who were on the way of diet at the time of the start of this research. The data were collected from August 2001 to October 2001. Data collecting method was a Focus Group Interview. The data were analysed by the Strauss and Corbin's method(1966). The results were showed that the 236 concepts in the dietary experiences were gathered into 48 sub-categories, eventually being integrated into 17 higher categories. 'Esthetic self-pursuit' is the core phenomenon of the dietary experiences. Such phenomenon is due to subjects physical problems, sense of comparison and desire of weight-loss. In the circumstantial context, the esthetic self-pursuit phenomenon is enhanced by social opinions, aesthetic senses, and the recognition of self-control. The interaction strategy of the esthetic self-pursuit can be intensified and sustained by will power, supporting systems, and accessibility. Through the dietary experiences, the body changes positive or negative figures. Following the sense of success or failure, the diet are sustained or abandoned accordingly. Therefore for the application of promoting health, an intervention strategy should be created a collect organized diet program in a social level not a private level.