• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.212-222
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• 2013

We studied the eating habits and sleeping patterns of 682 middle and high school students in their third year in Gwangju. According to the body mass index (BMI) of the subjects, obesity (over weight) was significantly higher in the third graders of high school students ($20.8{\pm}4.0$, 32.9%) than middle school students ($19.4{\pm}3.8$, 14.2%) (p<0.001). In addition, 71.1% of high school students experienced a lack of sleep compared to 48.8% of middle school students (p<0.001). There was a difference between good and bad sleepers in the number of times they ate snacks and the quantity of their snacks. Good sleepers had more fruit and dairy products (e.g. fruit juice 2~4 times (p<0.05), milk 2~4 times (p<0.001), apples 2~4 times, strawberries 2~4 times (p<0.01), and bananas 2~4 times a week), while bad sleepers consumed more beverages, frozen desserts, flour-based foods, fast food, bread, and rice cake. Bad sleepers clearly consumed snacks more frequently. From analyzing the correlations between sleep quality and snack intake, eating fruits 2~4 times a week (30 g~200 g/once) and drinking dairy products 2~4 times a week (120 mL~400 mL/once) appears to promote better sleeping habits.