• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.234-245
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• 2015

This study aimed to investigate factors related to Chinese female marriage immigrants' dietary adaptation. An in-person survey was conducted by a research institute on Chinese female marriage immigrants married to Korean men, having one child or more aged 1~6 years old, and having resided in Korea for at least 1 year before the survey. Data were collected from 309 respondents comprising 151 Han Chinese and 158 Korean-Chinese during the summer of 2013. About two-thirds of respondents were in their 30s and had resided in Korea for 5 to 10 years. Based on the overall mean score for dietary adaptation level (3.50 out of 5 points), the respondents were classified into two groups: low dietary adaptation group (mean score 3.11) and high dietary adaptation group (mean score 3.81). The results of comparative analysis between the two groups showed that the levels of acculturation (p<0.01) and healthy dietary behavior (p<0.01) for the high dietary adaptation group were significantly higher than those of low dietary adaptation group. The number of respondents of the high dietary adaptation group reporting increased food diversity (p<0.01) and decreased frequency of skipping meals (p<0.01) was significantly higher compare to the low dietary adaptation group. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify factors related to dietary adaptation. General characteristics, levels of acculturation, and healthy dietary behavior were included as independent variables. As a result, levels of acculturation and healthy dietary behavior as well as education level, monthly household income, and length of residence in Korea were associated with dietary adaptation. In conclusion, Chinese female marriage immigrants showing acculturated and healthy dietary behaviors adapted well to Korean dietary life. The results from this study suggest that diet-related adaptation support programs for Chinese female marriage immigrants may positively affect their acculturation and dietary behaviors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.86-96
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• 2020

This study analyzed the dietary behaviors and adaptation for Korean foods among Central Asian workers(Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan) living in South Korea to provide basic and fundamental data that allows Central Asian workers to have desirable eating habits while living in South Korea. Questionnaires were completed by 186 Central Asian workers living in South Korea. From this study, we found that 56.8% of respondents ate three meals a day, and 27.2% of respondents ate two meals a day. 29.7% of respondents had no snacks. For adapting Korean food, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan workers had difficulties adapting spicy and salty flavors and unpleasant smell while Kazakhstan workers had difficulties due to sweet flavors and spicy and salty flavors. Men adapted better than women to adapt Korean food. Women respondents ate Korean food more often than men. And the Uzbekistan ratio of eating homeland food daily was the highest. By providing understanding of dietary patterns of Central Asian workers, these results can be used as the basic and fundamental data for their Korean food adaptation.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze meal management behaviors for Korea dietary acculturation among multicultural families in Korea. The study compared differences in meal management behaviors among 90 multicultural families. Results of the study were as follows: cultural adaptation to Korea got higher with increasing age; marriage immigrants with longer marriage duration and with children showed higher cultural adaptation to Korea. Regarding food value of marriage immigrant women, 'eating favorite food' was the highest in the 20s, while 'satisfaction with Korean dietary lifestyle' was high in Chinese and in those with longer residency. Most of them replied 'myself' for the meal manager of their multicultural family. When surveyed on major difficulties in Korean meal management, existence of children showed significant difference for 'cooking', and period of residency and existence of children made significant difference for 'taste'. In conclusion, meal management behavior of multicultural families was influenced by socioeconomic factors. Further research is needed for more quantitative analysis and understanding of the effect of dietary patterns on nutritional status and quality of life in multicultural families.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.112-124
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• 2018

Despite the rapid increase in the number of foreign students, there has been a lack of research to help them adapt to Korean food culture and develop healthy eating habits. This study examined the dietary habits and problems of foreign students studying in universities of Korea. Although 97.0% of the 604 people surveyed live in dormitories, the visiting rate of the school cafeteria was low. In addition, only 30.2% of them ate three meals a day, and the frequency of eating midnight snack and convenience store foods was high. International students were positive about experiencing new Korean food, but food satisfaction in Korea was not high because of the difficulties in food selection due to religious problems and maladjustment to Korean sauces and seasonings. Information on Korean eating habits was obtained mainly from other foreign students from the same country (49.5%) and the Internet (33.8%), and there was very little interaction with Korean students at meals. The ratio of subjects who ate halal foods was 33.3%, and they were shown to have difficulty obtaining halal foods in Korea. Therefore, based on the results of this study, a support program should be developed in order to improve the dietary habits of international students.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.205-219
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analysis of food adaptation and dietary behavior of marriage migrant women in according to their acculturation type, and find out their relationship. The survey was conducted by well-trained researchers using questionnaires translated into English, Chinese and Vietnamese. Food adaptional score was the highest in the assimilation type, and the separation type was the lowest. Dietary behavioral score in daily intake of milk and dairy foods was the highest in the assimilation type. There were positive correlations occurred between food adaptional score and dietary behavioral score, and also, between food adaptional score and assimilation score. Analysis of structural equation models shows that only assimilation affects food adaptational score, and food adaptational score affects the improvement of dietary behavior. In conclusion, marriage migrant women's positive attitude of new cultures, assimilation, might help them not only adapt to new cultures, but food adaptation and right dietary behaviors.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.179-188
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• 2016

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to document the dietary behaviors, dietary changes, and health status of female marriage immigrants residing in Gwangju, Korea. Methods: The survey included 92 female immigrants attending Korean language class at a multi-cultural family support center. General characteristics, health status, anthropometric data, dietary behaviors, and dietary changes were collected. Results: Mean age of subjects was 31.3 years, and home countries of subjects were Vietnam (50.0%), China (26.0%), Philippines (12.0%), and others (12.0%). Frequently reported chronic diseases were digestive diseases (13.2%), anemia (12.1%), and neuropsychiatry disorder (8.9%). Seventeen percent of the subjects was obese ($BMI{\geq}25kg/m^2$). Dietary score by Mini Dietary Assessment was 3.45 out of 5 points. Dietary scores for dairy foods, meat/fish/egg/bean intake, meal regularity, and food variety were low, and those for fried foods and high fat meat intake were also low. Thirty-three percent of subjects answered that they have changed their diet and increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables after immigration. Length of residence in Korea was positively associated with BMI and waist circumference. Length of residence tends to be positively associated with dietary changes and obesity as well as inversely associated with disease prevalence. Conclusion: The study shows that length of residence is inversely related to disease prevalence. However, this association is thought to be due to the relatively short period of residence in Korea and thus the transitional phase to adapting to dietary practices. As the length of residence increases, disease patterns related to obesity are subject to change. Healthy dietary behaviors and adaptation to dietary practices in Korea in female marriage immigrants will not only benefit individuals but also their families and social structure. Therefore, varied, long-term, and target-specific studies on female marriage immigrants are highly needed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.2244-2255
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• 2014

This study aimed to compare smoking, drinking, dietary management, personal hygiene, and oral care between immigrant women in urban and rural areas and to determine predictors of the overall health behaviors. With the standardized questionnaire used for community health survey data collection was performed in 128 immigrant women from November 2011 to October 2012. Rural women performed significantly higher numbers of health behaviors than urban women and residential district, education, employment status, and perceived difficulties related to cultural adaptation significantly predicted health behaviors in immigrant women. Immigrant women in urban areas may be highly vulnerable in maintaining health behaviors compared with rural women and cultural barriers may hinder positive health behavior maintenance. Therefore, careful considerations at individual, community, and environmental levels are needed when assessing immigrant women's health behaviors and designing culturally relevant interventions to improve health status.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.173-189
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• 2015

The Korean society has been dramatically changed in its population, with rapidly increasing number of multicultural families through international marriages. The objective is to investigate the dietary patterns as an acculturation for multicultural families in urban area. The research target was 89 marriage immigrant females in Daejeon, in whom 50.6 % was in their twenties and 49.4 % was in their thirties to forties. 39.3% of the subjects was from China and 28.1 % from Vietnam, which showed similar pattern to the ratio of marriage immigrants' homeland in Korea. As age goes higher, cultural adaptation in Korea was the integration pattern. Marriage immigrant females from Vietnam showed the highest rates of marginalization pattern as cultural adaptation. Moreover, those with longer marriage duration and with children tend to show higher rates of integration pattern. 'Food attitude', 'food diversity', and 'balance life' as eating behaviors are related with acculturation. In conclusion, the multicultural families in urban area showed integration acculturation patterns, which could be influenced by their socioeconomic factors, such as residence period and Korean language ability and food diversity as dietary patterns factors. Further study with a quantitative analysis is needed in order to understand the effect of dietary patterns on acculturation in the multicultural families.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.228-235
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• 2015

Purpose: Along with the adaptation of a Western dietary pattern and low physical activity, pediatric obesity is increasing in Korea, especially for boys. The aim of this study was to identify dietary behavior patterns and examine the snack consumption, dietary habit, and pediatric obesity by pattern groups. Methods: Boys aged 15~19 years were recruited from one high school in Seoul. A questionnaire including dietary behaviors and lifestyle factors was administered and height and weight were measured. A total of 932 boys participated except boys who had missing or incomplete response (n = 30). Three dietary behavior patterns were identified by cluster analysis; 'Healthy pattern', 'Mixed pattern' and 'Unhealthy pattern'. Results: Snack consumption differed according to dietary behavior patterns group. The healthy and mixed patterns showed higher frequencies of white milk and fruit consumption while the unhealthy pattern as well as the mixed patterns showed higher frequencies of sweetened snack and ice cream consumption. Food availability at home of each food differed according to pattern groups but showed a similar trend with food consumption. Regarding dietary habits, the mixed pattern showed higher proportion of taking dietary supplement and eating dessert while the unhealthy pattern showed lower proportion of eating regular meals and appropriate amount of meals. When the healthy pattern was set as a reference group, the odds ratio of pediatric obesity was 1.11 (CI 0.65-1.87) in the mixed pattern group and 1.88 (CI 1.14-3.10) in the unhealthy pattern group. Conclusion: In conclusion, dietary behaviors including snack consumption and lifestyle factors were connected. Unbalanced diet and undesirable dietary practice are important determinants in pediatric obesity.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.555-562
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. Development of effective and sustainable programs to promote healthy behaviors from a young age is important. This study developed and tested an intervention program designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity among young children in South Korea by adaptation of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mission X (MX) Program. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The intervention program consisted of 4 weeks of fitness and 2 weeks of nutrition education. A sample of 104 subjects completed pre- and post- surveys on the Children's Nutrition Acknowledgement Test (NAT). Parents were asked for their children's characteristics and two 24-hour dietary records, the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) at baseline and a 6-week follow-up. Child weight status was assessed using Korean body mass index (BMI) percentiles. RESULTS: At baseline, 16.4% (boy: 15.4%; girl: 19.2%) of subjects were overweight or obese (based on $BMI{\geq}85%tile$). Fat consumption significantly decreased in normal BMI children ($48.6{\pm}16.8g$ at baseline to $41.9{\pm}18.1g$ after intervention, P < 0.05); total NQ score significantly increased from 66.4 to 67.9 (P < 0.05); total NAT score significantly improved in normal BMI children (74.3 at baseline to 81.9 after the program), children being underweight (from 71.0 to 77.0), and overweight children (77.1 at baseline vs. 88.2 after intervention, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The 6-week South Korean NASA MX project is feasible and shows favorable changes in eating behaviors and nutritional knowledge among young children.