• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.458-465
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• 2012

This study aims to determine the association between obesity-related behaviors (dietary practices, physical activity and body image) and body weight status among adolescents. A total of 382 adolescents (187 males and 195 females) aged 13 to 15 years in Kajang, Selangor participated in this study. Majority of the respondents were Malays (56.0%), followed by Chinese (30.1%) and Indians (13.9%). Dietary practices, physical activity and body image of the adolescents were assessed through the eating behaviors questionnaire, two-day dietary record, two-day physical activity record and multi-dimensional body image scale (MBIS), respectively. Body weight and height were measured by trained researchers. The prevalence of overweight and obesity (19.5%) was about twice the prevalence of underweight (10.5%). About two-thirds of the respondents (72.3%) skipped at least one meal and half of them (56.2%) snacked between meals with a mean energy intake of $1,641{\pm}452$ kcal/day. More than half of the respondents (56.8%) were practicing sedentary lifestyle with a mean energy expenditure of $1,631{\pm}573$ kcal per day. Energy intake (r = 0.153, P < 0.05), physical activity (r = 0.463, P < 0.01) and body image (r = 0.424, P < 0.01) were correlated with BMI. However, meal skipping, snacking and energy expenditure per kg body weight were not associated with body weight status. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that body image, physical activity and energy intake contributed significantly in explaining body weight status of the adolescents. In short, overweight and obesity were likely to be associated not only with energy intake and physical activity, but also body image. Hence, promoting healthy eating, active lifestyle and positive body image should be incorporated in future obesity prevention programmes in adolescents.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.141-154
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• 2022

Purpose: This study determined the relationships between maternal comprehensive feeding practices (CFP) and dietary practices of preschool children. Methods: Participants of the study were 227 mothers of children aged 3 to 5 years attending daycare centers and kindergartens in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province of Korea. The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire was used to assess the maternal feeding practices. The Nutrition Quotient for Preschoolers (NQ-P) was measured to evaluate dietary practice and diet quality of children. Results: The balance of NQ-P for children was positively correlated with the modeling, restrictions for weight control, encouragement of balance and variety, pressure, and involvement among maternal CFP. Moderation of NQ-P was positively correlated with monitoring, modeling, teaching about nutrition, encouragement of balance and variety, environment, and involvement among maternal CFP. However, it was negatively correlated with emotion regulation, food as a reward, and child control in maternal CFP. Among maternal CFP, the environment of NQ-P was positively correlated with monitoring, modeling, teaching about nutrition, encouragement of balance and variety, environment, and involvement, and it was negatively correlated with emotion regulation. As a multiple regression analysis, maternal CFP that positively predicted balance of NQ-P indices were restricted for weight control, pressure, and involvement. Among maternal CFP, encouragement of balance and variety, and environment were positive predictors, while food as a reward, and child control were negative predictors for the moderation of NQ-P. Items of maternal CFP positively predicting environmental factors of NQ-P were monitoring and environment. Conclusion: Mothers are recommended to practice dietary guidance to their children, such as monitoring, modeling, teaching about nutritional information, recommendation of balance and diversity, healthy eating environment, and participation in meal plan and preparation, while they are advised not to conduct any adverse dietary guidance such as emotional control, compensation with food, child control, and food coercion.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2003

Over the past few decades, changes in patterns of behavior (e.g., diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity) have led to major changes in health status, characterized by increases in obesity, Type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. This epidemiologic transition is largely the result of rapid increases in immigration to developed countries and rural-urban migration within developing countries, which is usually accompanied by environmental and lifestyle changes. In particular, adoption of “Western” dietary patterns, which tend to be high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables, is of concern since diet is a potent contributor to chronic disease risk. However, until recently, the process by which immigrants and rural-urban migrants adopt the dietary practices predominant in their new environments, known as dietary acculturation, has received very little research attention. Dietary acculturation is multidimensional, dynamic, and complex, and varies considerably depending on a variety of personal, cultural, and environmental characteristics. Therefore, to intervene successfully on the negative aspects of dietary acculturation, it is important to understand the process and identify factors that predispose and enable it to occur. The purpose of this article is to provide a practical model for understanding and investigating the effect of dietary acculturation on food and nutrient intake. Thus, this report 1) gives an overview of acculturation, 2) defines dietary acculturation and presents a model for how it occurs, 3) discusses measurement issues around dietary acculturation,4) reviews the literature on dietary acculturation in Korean Americans; 4) suggests a paradigm for acculturation research; and 5) offers some recommendations for future research in this area.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.512-520
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The 6-23 months for infants is the longest period in the "first 1,000 days" of life. This period is very important for child development, so complementary feeding (CF) practices should be optimized to maximize children's potential for growth and development. The aim of this study was to analyze the CF practices and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months. SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, 392 children aged 6-23 months were selected using stratified random sampling. Socio-demographic data were collected through interviews. CF practices, collected by interviews and repeated 24-hour food recall method, were the timely introduction of CF, minimum meal frequency, dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet, consumption food rich in proteins and vitamin A. Nutritional status was assessed using the indicators of underweight, wasting and stunting. To analyze the association between socio-demographic indicators and CF with nutritional status, the chi-square test with a confidence interval of 95% was used. RESULTS: Results showed that 39% were exclusively breastfed, only 61% received prolonged breastfeeding and 50% received timely introduction of CF. Minimum meal frequency was met by 74% of subjects, but dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diet were only realized in 50% and 40% of the children, respectively. The prevalence of underweight, wasting, and stunting were 26%, 23%, and 28%, respectively. Age of the child, birth order, birth weight, parents' education level, family size and incidence of fever and diarrhea during the previous two weeks were associated with underweight, while child's birth order, fathers' education level, mother's age, family size, completion of the age-appropriate vaccination and fish consumption frequency were associated with wasting. Age of the child, incidence of fever and acute respiratory infection, and fortified food consumption were associated with stunting. CONCLUSIONS: Suboptimal CF practices and high prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting were found among children aged 6-23 months old in Aceh. These results highlight the need to improve CF and nutritional status.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.177-191
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• 2022

Objectives: Recent epidemiological data reported that young adults in their 20 ~ 30s are a vulnerable population with unhealthy dietary practices and a few signs of deteriorated health indicators. However, there are no dietary guidelines that are specifically developed for the young adult population. This study introduces some data collection tools that are mostly used in the service design field, and demonstrates how these tools can be used in nutrition research for developing dietary guidelines for specific target groups. Methods: To understand the context of food choices among young people, 39 people were enrolled to complete a probes booklet. Thematic analysis and word cloud were performed to capture the main themes from the probes and a persona was developed based on the findings. Results: Data from the probes enabled us to grasp the various contextual meanings of eating practices among young people. Most participants understand what a healthy diet is and often have a willingness to practice it. However, there were very few participants who were following the practices. We created four types of persona for developing dietary guidelines: healthy eating, emotional eating, convenient eating, and trendy eating. Conclusions: Probes and persona were used in order to understand the lives of young adults and develop targeted messages. We hope that this introduction will be helpful to researchers who are looking for new ways of understanding their target population in the field of community nutrition.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.509-522
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• 2023

Objectives: This study is intended to develop a curriculum for kindergarten food and nutrition education aimed at preschool children, reflecting government policy and meeting the demands of preschool settings. Methods: Existing educational materials were analyzed, and key elements of the 2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum ("Nuri Curriculum") and Guidelines for Nutrition and Food Education in Kindergartens, Elementary, Middle, and High Schools ("Guidelines") were examined as foundational information for developing the curriculum for food and nutrition education. Results: Basing ourselves on the five domains of the Nuri Curriculum, "Physical Activity and Health," "Communication," "Social Relationships," "Art Experience," and "Natural Science Inquiry," we integrated three areas from the Guidelines, namely "Dietary Habits and Health," "Dietary Habits and Safety," and "Dietary Habits and Culture," to structure the curriculum for kindergarten food and nutrition education. Three specific domains, "Nutrition and Health," "Food and Culture," and "Safe Dietary Practices," were tailored for preschool children, each comprising core concepts, content elements, and educational materials. In the "Nutrition and Health" domain, core concepts such as "nutrition" were addressed through content elements such as "balanced eating" and "vegetables and fruit," while "health" included elements such as "eating regularly" and "nutrients for disease prevention," each with two educational content components. The "Food and Culture" domain focused on "food" with content on "local foods (vegetable-garden experience)" and "food culture" with content on "our dining table (rice and side dishes)," "our agricultural products," "global cuisine (multiculture)," and "considerate dietary practices," each with four educational content components. The "Safe Dietary Practices" domain included core concepts such as "hygiene" with content on "hand-washing habits" and "food poisoning management," and "safety" with content on "food labeling." Conclusions: The systematized curriculum for kindergarten food and nutrition education aligns with the Nuri Curriculum and is interconnected with the Guidelines. This curriculum can be used as foundational material for developing educational resources tailored to the characteristics of preschoolers, contributing to effective implementation in early childhood education.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.314-325
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• 2023

This study was to identify the effects of education on Korean foods preferred by elementary students and their sustainability. A survey was conducted on 5th-grade elementary school students. Korean food preferences were classified by exploratory factor analysis as creative, healthy, or considerate, and the effects of education on Korean dietary life were classified as cognitive or emotional. Dietary life sustainability was evaluated separately. Results showed that creative and considerate preferences had significant impacts on cognitive and emotional education effects and that a healthy preference type significantly impacted the emotional effect of education. Analysis showed that creative and considerate food preference types significantly influenced dietary life sustainability and that cognitive and emotional education effects mediated these relationships. Sex was not found to have a significant moderating effect. The study shows that Korean dietary life sustainability is influenced by education on topics that promote the value and excellence of Korean food and suggests that experiential education combining practice and theory should be used to increase interest in Korean food among elementary students. Additional studies are required to determine Korean food preferences to facilitate the development of a dietary life education program that enables students to understand and maintain healthy dietary practices.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 1992

A bibliographical study on the superstition of special the day of the month was done to know the present practices and compare with Kongkooksesiki(동국세시기), Youlyangsesili(열양세시기), Kyoungdojabji(경도잡지). The superstition of special the day of the month which were celebrated in Choongcheongnam-Do, Kyungsangnam-Do, Hwanghae-Do area were the Junuary 15, the February 1, the July 7 and the winter solstice.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.338-347
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• 2023

Objectives: Young children's feeding characteristics can play an important role in eating habits and health during later childhood. This study was conducted to examine the associations of feeding characteristics with dietary patterns and obesity in children. Methods: This study utilized data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2013 and 2017. In total, 802 toddlers were included, with information on their demographic characteristics, feeding practices and duration, and 24-hour recall obtained from their parents. Feeding characteristics were categorized into feeding type, duration of total breastfeeding, duration of total formula feeding, duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and age when starting formula feeding. Dietary patterns were identified based on factor loadings for the food groups for 3 major factors, with "vegetables & traditional," "fish & carbohydrates," and "sweet & fat" patterns. Overweight/obesity was defined as ≥85th percentile in body mass index based on the 2017 Korean National Growth charts for children and adolescents. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine associations between feeding characteristics and dietary patterns. The association between dietary patterns and obesity was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: The early introduction of formula feeding was inversely associated with the "vegetables & traditional" pattern (β=-0.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.34 to -0.02). A higher "vegetables & traditional" intake was associated with a lower risk of obesity (odds ratio, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.95). Conclusions: Feeding characteristics are associated with dietary patterns in later childhood, and dietary patterns were shown to have a potential protective association against obesity.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.136-152
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• 2024

Purpose: A comprehensive evaluation item was developed to assess adolescent dietary habits and nutritional practices, considering food intake, eating behaviors, and food culture, such as social support and food environment. Methods: The 59 candidate items of the evaluation checklist were obtained based on the results of the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, Korea Dietary Reference Intakes, dietary guidelines for adolescents, Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, national nutrition policies and dietary guidelines, and literature reviews. Four hundred and three middle and high school students residing in metropolitan areas participated in a survey using the 58-item checklist, which was selected through expert evaluation and content validity ratio analysis. The construct validity of the assessment tool for the quality of adolescent diets was assessed by exploratory factor analyses to determine if the checklist items were organized properly and whether the responses to each item were distributed adequately. Results: The Bartlett sphericity test was significant for each area (p <0.001), and the eigen values were greater than one. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and cumulative proportions by areas were food intake (0.765 and 56.8%, respectively), eating behaviors (0.544 and 64.8%, respectively), and food environment (0.699 and 62.4%, respectively). Twenty-two checklists were determined for the final evaluation items for the adolescents' dietary habits and nutritional practices and were categorized into three distinct factors: food intake (10 items), eating behaviors (4 items), and food environment (8 items). Conclusion: The evaluation items for adolescent dietary habits and nutritional practices is a useful checklist for easily and quickly assessing the dietary qualities and reflecting Korean adolescents and their food environmental factors related to a sustainable diet.