• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.97-113
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• 2024

Objectives: Since the enactment of the School Nutrition Act in 1981, school lunch programs in South Korea have grown quantitatively and qualitatively with a current student participation rate of 99.8%. Nonetheless, educational materials are needed to reduce misunderstanding and ignorance about school lunch programs. This study aimed to develop 3 educational videos that help students of various ages (kindergarteners/lower-grade elementary, upper-grade elementary, and secondary school, respectively), understand the school lunch program. Methods: A scenario was created, was made, and the opinions on the scenario from experts in foodservice sectors were collected. A survey was conducted to students and parents to determine topics they wanted to know about school foodservice. The final videos were produced using this information and the expert opinions. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 for Mac (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA); a P-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Three videos on school foodservice were developed for various age levels of students: kindergarten/lower-grade elementary, upper-grade elementary, and secondary school. Additionally, English subtitles were included for the multicultural student population. These videos, each lasting about 7 minutes, cover topics such as nutrition, hygiene, and the cultural significance of the school lunch program. The survey results showed that parents and students wanted to know the following topics about the school lunch program: "nutritionally balanced diet" (11.9%), "purchasing safe food ingredients" (10.9%), and "healthy eating habits" (9.9%). Conclusions: The developed videos will serve as valuable educational resources on school foodservice, foster a deeper understanding of the school lunch program in parents and students, and potentially address their inquiries regarding production processes, nutrition, hygiene, cultural heritage, and health.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.244-260
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• 2024

Purpose: With the 2021 revision of dietary guidelines in Korean emphasizing environmentally sustainable dietary practices, this study attempted to develop an evaluation tool to comprehensively evaluate the degree of practice and compliance with food and nutrient intake, dietary habits, and dietary culture guidelines based on the revised dietary guidelines. Methods: The candidate evaluation items were collected by reviewing 934 literature reviews on domestic and foreign dietary evaluations. Fifty-nine candidate items were derived by selecting the items corresponding to dietary guidelines. The content validity ratio (CVR) cutoff point evaluation was conducted with 11 experts to delete 11 items that did not meet the CVR standard. Fifty-five pilot survey candidate items were selected through revision and additional process according to expert opinion. Seventy final candidate items were selected by adding 15 questions for validity verification and reference. A pilot survey was conducted online and offline on 332 adults aged 19-64 in Seoul and the metropolitan area, and exploratory factor analysis was used to verify the construct validity of the evaluation items. Through exploratory factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlett's sphericity test, variance explained, and Cronbach's alpha criteria were confirmed in each process. Results: Exploratory factor analyses derived three criteria: food and nutrient intakes (11 items), eating behaviors (9 items), and dietary culture (14 items), consisting of 34 evaluation items. Conclusion: The present scale was validated and can be used for comprehensive evaluations of the dietary guidelines for Korean adults in a simple way.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.330-339
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• 2018

Purpose: This study examined the dietary habits and nutritional status of young children in Korea. Methods: Data were collected from the 2013 ~ 2015 KNHNES (Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) by health behavior interviews and the 24-hour dietary recall method. This study included 1,214 (445 aged 1 ~ 2 years, 769 aged 3 ~ 5 years) young children aged 1 ~ 5 years. To analyze the dietary status of young children, the general characteristics of young children and their mothers, their dietary behaviors and health factors, and nutritional status and frequently consumed foods were analyzed. Results: The starting time of bovine milk and weaning were 14 ~ 15 months and 6.2 months, respectively. Eighty two percent of young children ate breakfast 5 ~ 7 times per week while only 2.3% of them skipped breakfast. The highest percentage (35.8%) of the frequency of eating-out was 5 ~ 6 times per week. The prevalence of asthma, atopy, and allergic rhinitis was significantly higher in young children 3 ~ 5 years old than in those 1 ~ 2 years old. The subjects with lower recommended energy intake were 44.1% and 57.4% of young children 1 ~ 2 years old and 3 ~ 5 years old, respectively. Most nutrients except calcium and potassium were taken enough. For the intakes of calcium and potassium, 51% and 64% of young children 1 ~ 2 years and 3 ~ 5 years old, respectively, were taking less than the recommended calcium intake, and 79.5% and 75.5% of young children 1 ~ 2 years and 3 ~ 5 years old, respectively, did not meet the recommended potassium intake. The frequently consumed foods of young children 1 ~ 2 years old were milk, white rice, apple, curd yogurt, and egg, and those of 3 ~ 5 years old children were milk, white rice, apple, egg, and mandarin. Conclusion: The results of this study can be used to provide basic data for the nutritional education of mothers and teachers and assist in the development of sustainable dietary programs for young children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.295-306
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• 2018

Purpose: Koreans' internet and smartphone usage hours are steadily increasing and the dependence of young people on smartphones is causing social problems. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine health and dietary habits, as well as hair mineral contents according to the level of dependence of smartphone use among adolescents to clarify the interrelation of smartphone dependence, lifestyle, dietary behavior, and mineral nutrition status. Methods: A total of 80 smartphone-addicted adolescents participated in this study and were divided into three groups (general, potential and danger group) according to smartphone dependence. The subjects' lifestyles and dietary behaviors were then surveyed, and hair mineral contents were analyzed. Results: Higher smartphone dependence was associated with lower average weekly sleeping time and later first smoking age. In the danger group, the rate of eating fast and the rate of snacking twice a day was also relatively high. Parents (45.0%) and mobile (30.0%) were the factors having the greatest influence on an individual's dietary behavior. In the hair mineral analysis, all subjects had lower selenium concentrations and higher lead concentrations than normal. In addition, the levels of aluminum in the danger group were higher than in the normal range and the highest among the three groups. Conclusions: It is necessary to guide adolescents to use smartphones correctly and manage dietary habits. In addition, careful attention is needed the mineral nutritional status of smartphone-addicted adolescents.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of elementary school dietitians in terms of nutrition education in the northern portion of Gyeonggi province. Self-administered questionnaires were given to 50 dietitians who have worked in elementary schools with self-operation food service, and 35(70%) dietitians returned the questionnaires. The results are summarized as follows: no students took part in nutrition education as a regular course, but all dietitians performed nutrition education in passive ways, such as 'using home correspondence'(39.0%), 'bulletin board/poster'(22.0%), 'using the internet'(13.4%) and 'indirectly through a classroom teacher'(12.2%). Most respondents performed nutrition education 'one time/month'(66.0%) or 'one time/week'(20.0%). The respondents thought that suitable teaching times for nutrition education were 'during a related subject'(35.5%), 'during lunch time'(22.6%) rather than 'during an independent subject'(16.1%). Most of the dietitians(94.3%) did not perform nutrition counseling because of 'a lack of opportunity'(72.7%) and 'workload'(27.3%). Additionally 88.6% of respondents did not have the time of for nutrition counseling for parents because 'am not a teacher'(56.7%) and 'workload'(30,0%). Information sources for nutrition education were mainly 'internet'(71.4%) and 're-educationa1 materials'(17.1%). They possessed instructional materials in the forms of 'printed materials'(35.1 %), 'exhibition/bulletin board'(31.2%), and 'electrical materials'(33.8%), 'but did not have 'solid materials' such as food models and dolls. Generally they had mostly 'leaflets'(82.9%), 'bulletins'(68.6%), 'internet'(57.1%), and 'CDs'(57.1%). Preferences for instructional materials used were 'printed materials'(46.2%), 'exhibition/bulletin board'(36.5%), and 'electrical materials'(17.3%) 'Leaflets'(80.0%) were mainly used; 'CD'(17.1 %) use was low compared to the proportion possessing CDs. The topics frequently chosen by the subjects for nutrition education were 'table manners'(82.9%), 'basic concepts of food and nutrition'(80.0%), and 'proper food habits'(80.0%), but the topics helpful for practical use, such as 'how much do I eat'(20.0%) and 'nutrition labeling'(37.1%), were not included frequently. The respondents thought that 'eating only what they like'(60.0 %), 'intake of processed foods'(17.8%), and 'obesity'(17.8%) were the most common nutritional problems among elementary school children. They also thought that establishing a regular course for nutrition education was an effective way to cut down on these nutritional problems. In conclusion, nutrition education programs that are combined with effective instructional materials and practical topics should be developed. Additionally, it is recommended that dietitians act as teachers who participate in regular courses as soon as possible.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.97-110
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to develop milk education materials for adults based on the scientific basis of right milk consumption in the format of card news that can be easily accessed on a mobile phone or the internet and has high impact. The topics to be included in the card news were selected based on the findings from literature analysis and focus group interviews with 10 adults(32.0±6.4 years). For the eight selected topics, effective communication was made by suggesting some information that users want to know while reflecting adult eating habits, lifestyle habits, and nutrition and health interests. The card news draft was reviewed by researcher and consulting experts, and then questionnaire survey was conducted using Likert 5-point scales by 50 adults(42.7±10.2 years). Based on the results of the review, consultation and questionnaire survey, a final draft of the card news consisting of 11 cuts was completed. Card news proposal is expected to produce educational effects, since the respondents showed high satisfaction with the card news (higher than 4 on the 5-point scales) according to the questionnaire survey. Adults can easily access and use the card news developed in this study, and thus this card news is expected to increase milk consumption in adulthood and improve nutrition and health through friendly and systematic milk education.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.416-425
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of vegetarian (lacto-ovo vegetarian) and non-vegetarian diets on dietary habits, nutrient intake, and health status. The vegan subjects were 22 children. Among them, 54.5% of the subjects had a specific religion, 36.4% had been vegetarian since weaning, and 9.1% had become vegetarian to prevent obesity or atopy. The percentages of excessive eating by the vegetarian children were lower compared to the non-vegetarian children. The rates of intake of vegetables (42.2%) and fruits and fruit juice (55.9%) by the vegetarian children were higher compared to non-vegetarian subjects. Non-vegetarian children consumed more milk, dairy products, as well as meat, fish, eggs, soybean, and tofu than the vegetarian subjects. Vegetarian children ate more bread, potato, and fruits as snacks than non-vegetarian children. Furthermore, non-vegetarian children consumed more carbonated beverages and ice cream than the vegetarian subjects (p<0.05). Generally, the subjects' energy intake was lower than standard values, and vegetarian children's calcium intake was deficient. Non-vegetarian children's fiber intake was deficient, and they consumed fat, vitamin $B_2$, calcium, and cholesterol excessively (p<0.05). Nutrition tablet intake was higher among non-vegetarian children; however, the rate of fatigue among subjects was higher among vegetarian subjects than non-vegetarian subjects. Among the vegetarian subjects, 19.6% reported that they had a cold. Consequently, for the purpose of attaining balanced physical development and growth among children, an education program that emphasizes complete diets should be prepared.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.199-210
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• 2021

Purpose: This study investigated the food consumption behaviors in Korean adults, according to the agrifood consumer competency index (ACCI). Methods: Data obtained from the 2019 Consumption Behaviors Survey for Food were analyzed. A total of 6,176 adults (2,783 males, 3,393 females) aged ≥ 19 years, were included in the study. Based on the score of agrifood consumer competency index, the subjects were classified into three groups. The dietary habits, eating-out and food-delivery/take-out behaviors, opinion of food labeling, and concerns for domestic products were compared among the 3 groups. Results: The ACCI scores of the male and female subjects were 63.6 and 64.8, respectively. Subjects of both genders in the highest tertile of the ACCI were more likely to have a higher education level and higher health concerns, as compared to subjects in the lowest tertile (p < 0.05). Male subjects having highest tertile of the ACCI reported significantly more exercise and alcohol consumption, as compared to subjects in the lowest tertile (p < 0.05). A higher score of the ACCI also portrayed a higher satisfaction in own diet and greater checking of the food label. Moreover, subjects with a higher score of the ACCI showed greater satisfaction and reliability in the food label, as well as increased concerns for domestic agrifoods, local foods, and eco-friendly foods. Subjects in the lowest tertile of the ACCI acquired their dietary information from acquaintances, whereas subjects in the highest tertile of the ACCI learnt the information from food labels themselves. Conclusion: These results are indicative of the food consumption and behaviors of Korean adults according to their ACCI scores, and provide basic data that will be useful for implementing an effective food policy.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.656-669
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• 2022

Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality, time use, and dietary quality of adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, enrolling 423 high school students (112 male and 311 female students) in Chungnam using a questionnaire comprising general characteristics, sleep status, use of time, and Nutrition Quotient for Korean Adolescents (NQ-A). Results: On weekdays, male students reported getting 6.6 hours of sleep, which was significantly higher than the 5.8 hours reported by female students. The sleep quality score between male and female students was not significantly different on weekdays and weekends. Comparing the students categorized as getting 6 hours of sleep duration on weekdays and 8 hours on weekends, a significantly higher total NQ-A score was obtained for the long sleep duration group of female students on weekdays. In male students who reported increased screen time on weekdays and study time on weekends, there was a greater frequency of short sleep duration. Our data also revealed that the longer the sleep duration higher the NQ-A score. In addition, higher NQ-A scores were determined with shorter screen time and more prolonged exercise time. Conclusion: Our results suggest that intense study time and excessive use of smartphones have a negative effect on sleep in high school students. In addition, poor sleep quality and lack of sleep are likely to affect eating habits and nutritional status. Therefore, there is a need to provide nutritional education to adolescents imparting knowledge that associates desirable sleep habits and the correct use of time.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.320-335
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• 2024

Purpose: This study examined the impact of adolescents' dietary behavior on their quality of life using the nutrition quotient for adolescents (NQ-A) for some high school students in Seoul. Methods: The subjects were 176 high school students living in Seoul. The NQ-A was used to assess the dietary quality, and the quality of life was assessed by categorizing it into life satisfaction, environment, health, participation and safety, leisure activities, and emotional factors using survey questions validated through previous studies. Results: The NQ score of the survey subjects was 49.30 points. Based on the NQ scores, 7.4%, 46.6%, and 46.0% of participants were categorized as the 'high', 'medium', and 'low' groups, respectively. The total NQ score and balance, diversity, and practice factor scores were positively correlated with life satisfaction, environment, health, participation and safety, and leisure activities among the quality of life subscales. Regression analysis showed that the total NQ score was positively associated with life satisfaction, health, leisure activities, and emotions; the moderation factor was negatively associated with life satisfaction and health. The balance factor was positively associated with the environmental factor. The practice factor was positively associated with health, leisure activities, and emotions, and the environment factor was negatively associated with emotions. Conclusion: These results show that adolescents' quality of life is closely related to their diet, so it is necessary to maintain a balanced and varied food intake and desirable eating behaviors to improve adolescents' quality of life. Furthermore, adolescents' quality of life is influenced by other factors. Therefore, further research is needed to assess the quality of life, including dietary factors, as well as physical, emotional, psychological, and social development.