• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.73-89
• /
• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the dietary life and nutritional status of Korean elementary school students according to breakfast frequency and to clarify the relationship between breakfast frequency of elementary school students and parental dietary and social environmental factors. Methods: This study used data from the 2013 ~ 2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI). The subjects were 1,325 elementary school students aged 6 to 11 years old. Subjects were categorized into two groups: a skipping breakfast group (ate breakfast 0 ~ 4 times per week), eating breakfast group (ate breakfast 5 ~ 7 times per week) by sex and grade (lower grade: 1st ~ 3rd/upper grade: 4 th ~ 6 th). Results: Among upper grade boys and girls, the skipping breakfast group had a higher rate of childhood obesity than the eating breakfast group. In lower grade boys, the mothers of the skipping breakfast group had higher rates of economic activity and eating breakfast alone without family members than the mothers of the eating breakfast group. For lower grade boys and girls and upper grade boys, the skipping breakfast group had a higher rate of parents who did not eat breakfast than the eating breakfast group. The energy intake of the breakfast consumed by all subjects was less than 25% of the Estimated Energy Requirements (EER). Moreover, for upper grade boys and girls, the skipping breakfast group had a higher rate of subjects whose daily intake was below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for iron than the eating breakfast group. Conclusion: Breakfast frequency of elementary school students was related to childhood obesity. The frequency of eating breakfast among elementary school students was related to the dietary life factors of parents such as breakfast frequency and dietary condition. Intake for breakfast was less than 25% of the EER, while the skipping breakfast group had a higher rate of subjects whose daily intake was below the EAR for iron than the eating breakfast group. Therefore, it is necessary to consider diverse forms of policy support such as opening nutrition education programs for parents and practicing morning meals at school for elementary school students to provide regular and balanced breakfasts.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.120-140
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate whether adherence to the Korea Healthy Eating Index (KHEI) was associated with metabolic syndrome and risk markers. Methods: The participants included 8,345 adults, aged 20-59 years, who took part in the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The data were analyzed using a complex-sample t-test, the Rao Scott χ²-test, and logistic regression analysis on the SPSS v. 26.0 software. The participants were divided into four groups by quartiles of KHEI scores. Results: The average KHEI score was 61.06 points out of 100, and the women's score (62.50 points) was significantly higher than that of men (59.63 points). The KHEI quartiles status showed significant differences by age (p < 0.001), household income (p < 0.001), smoking status (p < 0.001), and food security. Specifically, the KHEI quartiles in the men showed significant differences in education (p < 0.001) and economic activity (p < 0.001) whereas those of women showed significant differences in alcohol-consumption (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.01) and eating-out (p < 0.001). As the KHEI scores increased, the proportion of subjects with an energy intake below the estimated energy requirement (EER) was lower, and significantly better levels of intake were observed for carbohydrate, protein, vitamin C, calcium, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, and niacin. The incidence of the metabolic syndrome risk factors, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia for men and hypertension, and hyperglycemia for women showed significant differences. The KHEI scores were inversely associated with abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: Based on these results, we conclude that higher adherence to the KHEI was associated with lower metabolic syndrome risk factors and incidence of the metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.300-314
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study sought to predict the reasons for skipping breakfast by adolescents aged 13-18 years using the 7^th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: The participants included 1,024 adolescents. The data were analyzed using a complex-sample t-test, the Rao Scott χ²-test, and the classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm for decision tree analysis with SPSS v. 27.0. The participants were divided into two groups, one regularly eating breakfast and the other skipping it. Results: A total of 579 and 445 study participants were found to be breakfast consumers and breakfast skippers respectively. Breakfast consumers were significantly younger than those who skipped breakfast. In addition, breakfast consumers had a significantly higher frequency of eating dinner, had been taught about nutrition, and had a lower frequency of eating out. The breakfast skippers did so to lose weight. Children who skipped breakfast consumed less energy, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, cholesterol, vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, phosphorus, sodium, iron, potassium, and niacin than those who consumed breakfast. The best predictor of skipping breakfast was identifying adolescents who sought to control their weight by not eating meals. Other participants who had low and middle-low household incomes, ate dinner 3-4 times a week, were more than 14.5 years old, and ate out once a day showed a higher frequency of skipping breakfast. Conclusion: Based on these results, nutrition education targeted at losing weight correctly and emphasizing the importance of breakfast, especially for adolescents, is required. Moreover, nutrition educators should consider designing and implementing specific action plans to encourage adolescents to improve their breakfast-eating practices by also eating dinner regularly and reducing eating out.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.496-509
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the general characteristics, chronic diseases, health behavior, mental health, and nutritional status of young-old women based on their vitality. Methods: This study used data from the 2019 and 2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The subjects were 1,113 young-old women aged 65 to 74 years old. The health-related quality of life concept with an 8-item questionnaire was used to measure the quality of life. Subjects were categorized into 4 groups (always, often, sometimes, never) based on their vitality. General characteristics, chronic diseases, health behavior, dietary behavior, food intake, and nutrient intake were compared among the groups. Results: Age, education level, household income, employment, fruit intake, dietary supplements, abundance of food, and nutrition labeling recognition were associated with the vitality of the subjects. Young-old women with arthritis, diabetes, and osteoporosis displayed lower vitality. Moreover, subjective health status, exercise, activity restrictions, and average daily sitting hours were related to vitality, while no significant difference was found in vitality between smoking and drinking. In terms of mental health factors, higher vitality was associated with 6-8 hours of sleep, lower stress levels, and reduced depression. The high-vitality group exhibited a higher intake of potatoes, starch, mushrooms, fruits, meat, milk, animal oils, and beverages than the low-vitality group. Additionally, the group with higher levels of vitality showed a higher intake of protein, fat, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, dietary fiber, sugars, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and riboflavin. Conclusion: This study suggests that the vitality of young-old women is related to socioeconomic factors, health behavior, mental health, and food intake. To maintain a vibrant lifestyle in elderly women, it is necessary to have social and economic stability, prevent arthritis, diabetes, and osteoporosis, exercise regularly, get sufficient sleep, maintain mental health, and have a balanced diet.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.251-262
• /
• 2019

In this study, we analyzed Korean dietary habits with food intake data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and we proposed a set of management guidelines for future Korean dietary habits. A total of 839 food items (1,419 foods) were analyzed according to the food catagories in "Food Code", which is the representative food classification system in Korea. The average total daily food intake was 1,585.77 g/day, with raw and processed foods accounting for 858.96 g/day and 726.81 g/day, respectively. Cereal grains contributed to the highest proportion of the food intake. Over 90% of subjects consumed cereal grains (99.09%) and root and tuber vegetables (95.80%) among the top 15 consumed food groups. According to the analysis by item, rice, Korean cabbage kimchi, apple, radish, egg, chili pepper, onion, wheat, soybean curds, potato, cucumber and pork were major (at least 1% of the average daily intake, 158.6 g/day) and frequently (eaten by more than 25% of subjects, 5,168 persons) consumed food items, and Korean spices were at the top of this list. In the case of kimchi, the proportion of intake of Korean cabbage kimchi (64.89 g/day) was the highest. In the case of alcoholic beverages, intake was highest by order of beer (63.53 g/day), soju (39.11 g/day) and makgeolli (19.70 g/day), and intake frequency was high in order of soju (11.3%), beer (7.2%), and sake (6.6%). Analysis results by seasonal intake trends showed that cereal grains have steadily decreased and beverages have slightly risen. In the case of alcoholic beverage consumption frequency, some kinds of makgeolli, wine, sake, and black raspberry wine have decreased gradually year by year. The consumption trend for kimchi has been gradually decreasing as well.