Analysis of Correlation among Health Consciousness and Nutrition Knowledge, Dietary Habits and Nutrition Attitudes of Elementary and Middle School Teachers in Masan City

This study investigated the correlations among the health consciousness, nutrition knowledge, dietary habits and nutrition attitudes of school teachers. The subjects of this study were 75 male and 152 female leachers in elementary and middle schools in Masan city. The survey was conducted by using a questionnaire. Even though the average body mass index (BMI) and the obesity index were normal in both male and female subjects, 33.3% of the male subjects were overweight/obese, while 18.5% of the female subjects were underweight, according to the obesity index. The food components of most concern during mealtime were (in order of importance) salt, MSG and cholesterol by male subjects, and salt, fat and MSG by female subjects. The subjects considered self-relaxation as the most important factor in maintaining optimal health status, followed by resting, bathing or use ova sauna, moderation in diet, exercise, decreasing alcohol intake, and no smoking. Newspapers/magazines and TV/radio were the primary sources of nutrition and health information of the subjects. As the degree of health consciousness increased, scores of the dietary habits and nutrition attitudes increased. Nutrition knowledge scores and nutrition altitudes scores increased with subjects'increased level of perception of the importance of acquiring nutrition knowledge and nutrition information. There was a highly significant correlation between the degree of health consciousness and dietary habit score (${\gamma}$ : 0.3, p<0.001). The degree of health consciousness was also significantly correlated (${\gamma}$=0.6, p<0.001) with nutrition attitudes scores. But the correlation between the degree of health consciousness and nutrition knowledge was not statistically significant. The degree of the perception of the importance of nutrition knowledge showed a positive correlation with nutrition attitude (${\gamma}$:0.4, p<0.001) and dietary habit (${\gamma}$:0.3, p<0.001). The degree of perception about the importance of nutrition knowledge and nutrition information was positively correlated with nutrition knowledge (${\gamma}$:0.2, p<0.001) and nutrition attitudes (${\gamma}$:0.3, p<0.001).

마산시 초.중 교사의 건강에 대한 관심도와 영양지식, 식생활 습관 및 영양 태도의 상호 관련성 분석