A Study on the Dietary Habits and Intake of Snacks and Self-purchasing Snacks in Elementary School Students

In this study, we investigated the dietary habits, snacks, and self-purchasing snacks (SPS) intake behaviors of 519 elementary school students (boys=239, girls=280). Obesity was significantly higher (p<0.05) in boys (24.8%) than in girls (14.7%) and the proportion of underweight subjects was higher compared to normal or other weight groups for both the boys and the girls. There were 7.5% of the subjects in the group that always skipped breakfast, and the main reason of skipping breakfast was insufficient time (51.9%). The snack intake frequency was once or twice per week for 23.1% of the subjects and three or four times per week for 25.1%. The SPS intake frequency was the subjects zero for 35.6% of the highest level of the responders, while 6.8% of the respondents took more than once SPS per day. 59.6% of the respondents consumed SPS due to hunger while 15.0% consumed SPS out of boredom. The SPS was purchased from supermarkets in 34.5% of the cases, from convenience stores in 24.1% and from snack corners in 20.0% of cases or from a store near school in 14.5% of the cases. Analysis of SPS behaviors according to obesity index showed that parent's opinion of 'permission to buy SPS as needed' had a significant effect in 64.5% over weight subjects compared to only 53.7% in underweight groups. The subjects who used more than 3/4 of their pocket money to buy SPS was higher in the overweight groups (16.4%) than in the underweight groups (7.0%) and normal weight groups (9.8%). The favorite snacks and SPS were milk and yogurt for 45.7% of the subjects, fruits for 42.7%, ice cream for 26.4%, fruit juices for 23.8%, sweet stuff for 16.4%, frozen dessert for 8.9%, and chocolate or candy for 8.1% in descending order. The intake frequency of milk, yogurt, and fruit juices was higher in the underweight groups, but the intake frequency of sweet stuff, frozen dessert, and chocolate or candy was higher in over weight groups. The intake of frozen dessert was more than four times higher in the overweight groups than in the underweight groups. In conclusion, dietary habits, snacks, and SPS intake behaviors were similar between the boys and the girls and obesity groups, but most students appeared to have a high preference for intake snacks and SPS. Therefore, education for appropriate snacks intake habits will be beneficial for improving their dietary habits and health.

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