• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.302-312
• /
• 2004

This study aimed at examine dietary attitude, eating behavior and food preferences of children in child care center. The children involved in this study were 153 boys and 134 girls, aged 3 to 6 years old. The eating frequency of breakfast and the number of meal times a day were significant difference according to sex(P<0.01). Reason for skipping breakfast was ‘no appetite’(49.3%). It was found that 51.5% of the children belonged to ‘fair’ in food habit score, while children in ‘poor’ and in ‘excellent’ were 25.0% and 9.7% respectively. There was no significant difference in food habit score between boys and girls. Their preferred staple foods were ‘cooked rice’ and ‘Chajangmyon’, their preferred soup was ‘seaweed soup’. Also, their most preferred side dishes with animal foods were ‘fried chicken’ and ‘Bulgogi’. The preference of ‘hard boiled soybean curd’ and ‘pan fried soybean curd’ among the side dishes with vegetable foods were significant according to the obesity index(P<0.05). Children preferred side dishes with animal foods to those with vegetable foods. First considered item in meal preparation was child's favorite(58.1%). Mother's response to child's unbalanced diet was ‘trying to persuade the child’(56.6%). It was significant according to mother's occupation(P<0.01). The nutritional management program at child care center is required to enhance the nutritional status of children. Also the nutritional education for the children and their meal planners is required for better growth and health promotion of preschool children.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.482-495
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the eating behavior and food preference of preschool children in day care facilities. Subjects of this study were 192 young children who lived in Sungnam city, Gyeonggi-Do. The results are summarized as follows: The parents reported that 34% of the children ate 'unbalanced diet'. And 16% of the children ate small portions of food. The parents picked up several reasons for their children's 'unbalanced diet' such as 'dislike of the tastes(29.2%), 'texture in the mouth(28.6%)', 'smell of food(18.2%)' Fifty-six percent of parents took 'to change the cooking methods' as the best way to make their children have good eating habits in their home. The highest score of preference among the children was noodles with bean sauce and kimbab for staple food, stews seaweed soup for soups and stews, bulgogi and fried chicken for side dish. The young children's preference score fur side dish made with meats were higher than made with vegetables. This study made a suggestion to parents of children ages 4 to 6 and to teachers in preschool that they prepare for foods made with vegetables.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.63 no.3
• /
• pp.104-109
• /
• 2020

Background: It is challenging to diagnose asthma in preschool children. The asthma predictive index (API) has been used to predict asthma and decide whether to initiate treatment in preschool children. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association between questionnaire-based current asthma with API, pulmonary function, airway hyperreactivity (AHR), fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO), and atopic sensitization in preschool children. Methods: We performed a population-based cross-sectional study in 916 preschool children aged 4-6 years. We defined current asthma as the presence of both physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one wheezing episode within the previous 12 months using a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared between groups according to the presence of current asthma. Results: The prevalence of current asthma was 3.9% in the study population. Children with current asthma showed a higher rate of positive bronchodilator response and loose and stringent API scores than children without current asthma. The stringent API was associated with current asthma with 72.2% sensitivity and 82.0% specificity. The diagnostic accuracy of the stringent API for current asthma was 0.771. However, no intergroup differences in spirometry results, methacholine provocation test results, FeNO level, or atopic sensitization rate were observed. Conclusion: The questionnaire-based diagnosis of current asthma is associated with API, but not with spirometry, AHR, FeNO, or atopic sensitization in preschool children.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.406-413
• /
• 2014

The objective of this study was to identify the nutritional risk factors by blood analysis, in 1,083 preschool children of age 3 to 6 years. The frequency of anemic children was 7.3% with Hb<11.1 g/dL, 29.9% with ferritin<20 ng/mL, and 16.7% with transferrin Fe saturation(%)<15%. The prevalence of anemia in these children were 12.8% for those with MCV<79 fL, and it was 71% for those with TIBC> $400{\mu}g/dL$. Serum ferritin concentration was 20 ng/mL in the normal children. Thirty two percent of the children had anemia with Hb<12 g/dL, which is below the normal range of Hb. Exactly 15.4% of the children had serum Fe concentration of $60{\mu}g/dL$. The transferrin Fe saturation of the children (16.3%) was >15%. The serum ferritin concentration showed low correlations with Hb, Fe, transferrin Fe saturation, and MCV. The transferrin Fe saturation, higher Hb concentration, MCV, and Hct values were increased significantly. Consequently, iron-deficiency anaemia was thus defined as having Hb concentration <12 g/dL accompanied by ferritin concentration <20 ng/mL or Hct <33%.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.36 no.8
• /
• pp.123-140
• /
• 1998

The purpose of this study was to verify preschool children can be classified of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) children across situation. It also was to examine differences among groups according to sex and age, and to investigate the family caracterisitcs of ADHD groups. The subjects of this study consisted of 228 preschool chilren (147 boys and 136 girls aged from 3- to 7- year-old) drawn from five Child Care Centers in Chung-Ju. Data were analyzed by the frequency, percentages, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficient, ${\chi}^2$-test, F-test, Tukey post-hoc test, and Pearson correlation using SAS program. The results were as follows: 1. Preschool children could be classified by four diagnostic groups across situation; (1) 168 children (59%) of the control group (no disorder of ADHD), (2) 49 children (17%) of ADHD-Home group (ADHD only at home), (3) 43 children (15%) of ADHD-School group (ADHD only at school), and (4) 23 children (8%) of ADHD-PH group (ADHD both at home and at school). Ratings by parents and by teachers correlated very low with each other, as in previous studies. These results confirm the findings that ADHD be classified across situation. 2. There were significant differences among four groups according to sex and age. In the ADHD-PH groups, the boys is 3 times higher than the girls and the children aged 6- to 7-year-old was shown highly distributed in the pervasive ADHD.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.979-989
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between dietary behavior and temperament & character in preschool children, and to offer basic data that can be applied for nutrition education and counseling. A total of 211 parents of preschool children aged 3~5 years performed the Korean version of Preschool Temperament and Character Inventory (K-psTCI), a questionnaire based on Cloninger's seven-factor model of personality, along with a questionnaire about the dietary behaviors of their children. K-psTCI represented seven factors such as harm avoidance (HA), novelty seeking (NS), reward dependence (RD), persistence (P), self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (CO), and self-transcendence (ST). The subjects were divided into either the high rank group or low rank group based on the mean score of each factor. The high rank group of HA showed significantly less physical activity and less appetite than the low rank group of HA. The children in the high rank of NS were more likely to have picky eating and a late night snack. The children in the low rank of SD or CO were more likely to have undesirable dietary behaviors, such as picky eating, too much snacking, and lower appetite than those in the high rank of SD or CO. In conclusion, individual temperament & character in preschool children may be associated with their dietary behavior, and understanding temperament & character in children may be important facts to screen and to develop an effective nutrition education program for children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.43-56
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the recognition differences between picture book makers(editors/writers) and picture book consumers(parents of young children/preschool teachers) about picture books. The study subjects were 69 children's book-editors(editors, designers), 72 children's book-writers, 78 parents of young children, and 79 preschool teachers. The results of this study were as follows. First, they differently recognized the effects of good picture books on children's development, and the contents and components of picture books. However, both groups preferred creative stories to traditional stories and agreed on the children's preferences of the book genre and characteristics. Second, picture book makers and consumers were differently aware of the quality of Korean picture books published in Korea but they agreed on the quality of foreign picture books. They thought that more picture books with better contents and formality on the imaginary, artistic, and real-life related themes needed to be published in Korea. Third, the book makers and consumers obtained information on the picture books in the book stores and libraries in most cases. The book makers were more interested than the consumer in the picture, writer, cover design, and publishing company of the books, whereas the consumers placed a higher priority in the purchase process. Both groups pointed out the non-professional editing and sales policy as the problems in the Korean publishing company.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.451-463
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate booklets and video clips to prevent children from picky eating. Methods: Based on a survey conducted on food preferences of preschool children aged 2 to 5 years, 14 kinds of less preferred vegetables were selected. Accordingly, educational videos, activity books, and teaching-learning guides were produced for preschool children using the 'food bridge' theory, and the educational materials were named "Friendly vegetables". Educational materials were distributed to childcare institutions, and their effectiveness was investigated for preschool children who were instructed on these materials once every 30 days from March to November, 2019. The children were examined for changes in their knowledge of names, colors, taste/texture, methods of cultivation, and preferences for vegetables before and after the instructional course. Results: The awareness of vegetables increased significantly in younger children and the picky eating group. When the assessment was carried out in terms of vegetable knowledge, it was observed that the younger the age or the pickier the in eating food, the more effective the education is compared to the counter part. The preference for vegetables also increased after the instruction compared to the pre-instruction period, but significant changes were seen only in the 2~3 year age group for boys and girls. Also, only the picky group of girls showed changes in preference. The children's average interest in the education materials was 3.85 points out of 5 points. Conclusions: Through this study, we have developed educational materials for standalone use in childcare facilities and confirmed that they have a significant effect on improving awareness and preferences related to vegetables. In summary, the younger the age or the pickier the child in eating food, the more effective the education. It is believed that additional education on mealtime guidance is needed which can alter the eating behavior of preschool children and improve their diet. It is proposed to widen the scope of use of the materials by collecting diverse opinions from child care teachers.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.127-142
• /
• 2022

This study was undertaken to investigate the association between maternal nutrition knowledge, dietary attitudes, and behaviors related to sugar intake and sugar intake reduction in preschool children. Eighty-three children aged 5 to 6 years attending kindergartens in Hongseong and their mothers participated in this study from October 2020 to February 2021. The average age of the mothers was 38.7 years, and 53.0% of the children were male. As child age increased, nutrition knowledge of sugar intake reduction increased, but no relation was found between age and, dietary behavior and preference related to sugar intake reduction. For children whose mothers perceived that their child's sugar preference was high, the behavioral score of sugar intake reduction was low. The more mothers allowed their children to eat sweet food; the higher was their child's preference for sweet food, which was also significantly associated with an increased risk of high sugar intake. When mothers were provided education that encouraged reducing children's sugar intakes, knowledge about reducing sugar intake in children was significantly increased. The study emphasizes the importance of the roles of mothers and primary caregivers regarding reducing the sugar intakes of preschool children.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.374-383
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUNDS/OBJECTIVES: To describe the data-based development of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for dietary evaluation of Korean preschool children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Development of the FFQ was based on the data from 2,766 preschool children aged 1-5 years, who had completed 24-hour dietary recalls in the 2009-2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We selected the food list based on the results of nutritional contribution and between-person variability for energy and 13 nutrients. We selected 88 foods with over 80% of total contribution to each nutrient and with over 80% of accumulated r² for each nutrient. A dish containing any of the 88 foods in the recipe was listed, and a total of 903 dishes were extracted. Among the 903 dishes, we selected 438 dishes contributing more than 1% of total consumption. RESULTS: FFQ included 116 dish items combined from 438 dishes based on nutrient profile and recipe. Quantities of dietary intake were assessed by nine categories of frequency and portion size option. In addition, when comparing the food portions of children with the reference portion size, subjects would be asked to select one of three response categories (less, similar, and more) and then to record the amount as a percentage for the reference portion. Percentages of coverage for energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate were 89.2%, 88.4%, 88.2%, and 89.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The dietary intake of Korean preschool children can be assessed by this new data-based FFQ. In addition, the new instrument can be used to identify nutritional needs of target groups for planning nutrition education and strategies to improve diet. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the performance of the instrument.