• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.216-225
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the associations between obesity and the children's Nutrition Quotient (NQ) and to further examine the relationships between NQ and mini dietary assessment (MDA) of their parents. Methods: The subjects were 355 children aged 3 to 5 years and their parents in Dongducheon. We collected parental-reported NQ questionnaires for children and MDA of parents. Anthropometric measurements, height, weight and BMI by BIA were measured in children. Overweight and obesity were determined according to age- and sex-specific BMI percentile from the 2007 Korean national growth chart. Statistical analyses consisted of the chi-squared test, ANOVA, partial correlations and logistic regression analysis adjustments for parents BMI. Results: Approximately 20.8% of preschool children were classified as overweight or obese. Underweight children showed a significantly higher score for balance than overweight children. The NQ of the children was $61.9{\pm}11.6$, and NQ scores and their parents' MDA did not exhibit any significant differences according to degree of obesity. After adjusting for parent's BMI, children's BMI was significantly correlated with balance and moderation among NQ factors. Parent's MDA showed significant correlation with their children's NQ, balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, practice and NQ grade, except for diversity of father. Additionally, NQ grade had a significantly increased (150.1%) odds ratio (OR) of being overweight (95% CI 1.008-2.234). Conclusions: These results show that NQ for children is influenced by their parents' MDA and BMI. Furthermore, our findings support the association between overweight prevention and improvement of NQ grade among preschool children.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.350-362
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• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated an association between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake and the dietary quality of adults in Deagu, Korea. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 1,022 adults aged 19 ~ 49 years (502 men and 520 women) in the Deagu area of Korea. Daily intake of SSB was obtained by the food frequency questionnaire, and the dietary quality was assessed using the nutrition quotient (NQ) for Korean adults. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between dietary quality and daily intake of SSB in adults. Results: Daily intake of SSB was 463.6 mL/d for total subjects, and the highest intakes were sweetened coffees (192.7 mL/d), followed by carbonated drinks (77.1 mL/d). Higher intake of SSB was associated with higher intake frequency of fast food or sweet and greasy bread, processed beverage, ramyon, eating out or delivery food and night snack, and also associated with lower frequency of water, breakfast intake and nutrition label checking in men or women. Men and women who had a higher intake SSB had significantly greater odds for being in the low grade of NQ (P for trend = 0.0006 for men, P for trend = 0.0007 for women), especially in the moderation factor (P for trend < 0.0001 for men and women). Conclusions: This study showed that high SSB intake was significantly associated with low dietary quality among adults. These study results suggest that nutrition education programs and guidelines should be provided to adults for improving their consumption of SSB and related diets.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.494-499
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• 2019

This study examined the dietary behavior of elementary school students in the Gyunggi area using the Nutrition Quotient (NQ). The subjects were 406 students (199 boys and 207 girls) in their fourth and fifth grades. The NQ, consisting 19 items, was grouped into five domains (balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, and practice). The NQ score of the boys and girls was similar (boys $61.40{\pm}14.31$, girls $63.02{\pm}14.62$). Among the five domains of the NQ, girls showed a higher score in moderation (boys $63.57{\pm}19.00$, girls $70.84{\pm}16.20$) and practice (boys $58.56{\pm}20.50$, girls $64.69{\pm}22.57$) than boys. No gender differences in diversity (boys $71.70{\pm}24.72$, girls $71.26{\pm}23.57$), regularity (boys $59.39{\pm}23.73$, girls $59.34{\pm}23.57$), and balance (boys $56.73{\pm}19.62$, girls $54.58{\pm}20.03$) were observed. The percentage distribution of the NQ grade was 10.8% (highest), 9.4% (high), 45.1% (medium), 20.4% (low), and 14.3% (lowest). More opportunities should be provided for children with a low and lowest NQ grade to participate in nutrition education.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.209-221
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• 2023

This study aimed to provide fundamental data that could guide high school students' night eating behavior by investigating habits of their night eating consumption during COVID-19 pandemic (From 2021/5/13 to 5/20). Association between their eating habits and the Nutrition Quotient for Korean Adolescents (NQ-A) were also explored. This study included a total of 604 students, among whom 441 students were identified as night eating consumers. Among all subjects, 30.5% consumed night eating 3~4 times a week, 27.3% consumed 1-2 times a week, and 27.0% did not consume any night eating at all. The high-night eating group had a higher score of total NQ-A than the non-night eating group for both male (p<0.05) and female (p<0.001) students. This was because male students in the high-night eating group reported significantly higher rates of daily dinner consumption compared to non-night eating group. Furthermore, both male (p<0.05) and female (p<0.001) students showed a significant increase in 'Moderation'. 'Diversity' was also significantly increased in female studies (p<0.05) as subcategories of dietary habits according to night eating frequency. These findings highlight the need for practical research to develop nutritional guidelines for night eating that reflect preferences of students while providing adequate nutritional habits.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the nutrition quotient and the dietary intake of adolescents. A total of 393 adolescents were surveyed to evaluate their Nutrition Quotient for Korean Adolescents (NQ-A) scores and dietary intake. The average age of the survey subjects was 15 years and the average NQ-A score of the subjects was 49.11±13.35. There was no significant difference in the NQ-A scores according to gender and age. The average dietary diversity score was 3.77±0.85, and it was significantly higher in boys than in girls (p< .05) with the scores of 12-14-year-old students being significantly higher than those aged 15-18 years (p< .01). The results of comparing the percentage of recommended intake or adequate intake and the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) according to the NQ-A grade, showed that the 'High' grade had a significantly higher intake percentage of vitamin B1, B12, folate, phosphorus, iron and a significantly higher MAR (p< .05). From a long-term perspective, efforts to improve dietary habits are deemed necessary to meet an individual's nutritional requirements. Adolescents themselves should develop proper eating behaviors and acquire suitable dietary management skills to enhance their nutritional status, ultimately contributing to an improvement in their quality of life.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.342-350
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• 2014

Purpose: This study investigated the eating behaviors of Chinese children using the Nutrition Quotient for Children (NQ-C). Methods: The research subjects were 336 students (166 boys and 170 girls) in the 5th and 6th years at two elementary schools in Shandong Province and Jiangsu Province. Results: The average score of the Children's NQ was good, reaching 69.6 points. The factor scores for balance, moderation, diversity, regularity, and practice were 58.8, 84.9, 63.6, 76.1, and 73.6 points, respectively. Compared with the diagnostic cut-off points of the factors, mean balance, moderation, regularity, and practice scores were above the cut-off points, but diversity score did not meet the cut-off points. Fathers' education level showed positive correlation with the balance, regularity, and NQ scores of the students. Mothers' education level also showed positive correlation with the balance and regularity scores and mother's employment showed positive correlation with regularity score. As the exercise hours per day increased, the NQ score also increased. Conclusion: The questionnaire of NQ-C developed in Korea can be used in assessment of nutrition behavior of Chinese elementary students who have similar eating patterns.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.412-420
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• 2021

This study aimed to assess the association between the weight status and dietary behavior of preschool children. The survey included 412 preschool children aged 2-5 years in 31 childcare facilities in Gwangju. General characteristics of children and their mothers, weight, height, feeding type, complementary feeding, food allergy, and dietary behavior of children based on the Nutrition Quotient for preschoolers (NQ-P) questionnaire were considered. Children were classified into 4 groups by weight status; underweight, normal, overweight, and obese, based on the 2017 Korean National Growth Charts. The percentage of children in the respective groups was 5.3, 70.9, 10.7, 13.1%. Weight status was not related to breast feeding duration nor the starting time of complementary feeding. The NQ-P scores of underweight, normal, overweight, and obese groups were 55.4, 60.0, 60.8, 60.0. Among the three factors covered by the NQ-P, 'balance' and 'environment' scores of the underweight group were lower than that of other groups. Underweight children consumed beans, fish, and white milk less frequently. The 'moderation' scores of the overweight/obese group were lower than those of the normal or obese groups. Obese children more frequently ate processed meat and fast foods. Proper nutrition education is thus needed for not only obese children but also underweight children based on their age, along with their parents, and caregivers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.86-96
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• 2023

Purpose: This study analyzes the association between depression, emotional eating, and dietary practices, and investigates the mediating effects of emotional eating between depression and dietary practice. Methods: A total of 345 women aged 40-59 years participated in the Seoul and Gyeonggido region. Assessments were achieved by self-reported questionnaires for emotional eating (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire), Nutrition Quotients (NQ), and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). Results: Analyzing the NQ scores by considering the depression group, revealed that compared to the normal group, balance, diversity, and eating behavior scores were lower in the depression group, whereas the moderation score was lower in the borderline depression group and depression group. The emotional eating scores were determined to be higher in the depression group than in the normal group. Partial correlation analysis between depression, emotional eating, and NQ revealed that depression is positively correlated with emotional eating and negatively correlated with all other factors of the nutrition quotient, balance, diversity, moderation, and eating behavior. Among the nutrition quotient factors considered, emotional eating was determined to be negatively correlated with both diversity and moderation. The bootstrapping method was applied to analyze the mediating effect of emotional eating for determining the association between depression and NQ. Results indicate that among the nutrition quotient factors evaluated using emotional eating as a medium, depression exerted a negative effect on moderation. Conclusion: Results of this study confirm that emotional eating, as a medium, affects the intake of unhealthy foods especially when depression is associated with dietary practices.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.110-122
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between food behavior and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) score in elementary students in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. Two hundreds and thirty two students (113 male and 119 female) in grades 4~6 participated. We assessed food behavior by using Nutrition Quotient (NQ). NQ was examined by an NQ questionnaire, which consisted of 19 food behavior checklist items. Their items were grouped into five categories: balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, and practice. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 18.0. Among the five factors, NQ for food behavior and balance factor showed the lowest score, whereas that of diversity factor showed the highest score. The final Nutrition Quotient (NQ) score weighted on such five factors was 62.59 points. The average level of ADHD by Conners-Wells Adolescent Self-Report Scale (Short Form) [CASS(S)] was 17.02 points out of a total of 81 points. Six students (2.2%) who scored more than 41 points were classified as ADHD risk. By gender, male students (19.76 points) showed a higher CASS(S) score than female students (14.41 points) did. There was a significant negative correlation between NQ and CASS(S) score (r=-0.445, P<0.001). Multiple regression determined the effects of moderation ($Exp({\beta})=-0.193$, P<0.01) and practice ($Exp({\beta})=-0.345$, P<0.001) on CASS(S) score. In conclusion, distinctive nutritional education is needed for students with a high level of ADHD to help their understanding considering their different levels of attention.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.84-95
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• 2016

This study investigated the food behavior and nutritional status of children using the Nutrition Quotient (NQ). The subjects for this study were 974 students and their parents who lived in Seocho-gu, Gwanak-gu, and Dongjak-gu, Seoul. The average NQ score of the subjects was 68.3, which was a medium grade. The mean scores for balance and moderation were above the thresholds, whereas the mean scores for diversity, regularity, and practice did not reach the thresholds. According to the results of evaluation by NQ, the subjects may have insufficient intake of calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin C. NQ and NQ factors were different according to the general characteristics and home background characteristics of the subjects. The mean scores for the moderation factor was significantly lower as the eating out frequency increased (p<0.001). The mean scores for balance, moderation, and regularity factors were significantly higher, with higher parents educational level. It is necessary to choose diverse side dishes, vegetables and also foods with balanced nutrition when eating out.