• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.366-373
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• 2005

This study was carried out to investigate the self-reported health and eating habit of the elite female adolescent athletes in Incheon. The subjects were 102 elite female athletes of middle and high schools located in Inchon. A self-administered Questionnaire was used for this cross-sectional survey. Statistical analysis by two-way ANOVA was performed to discriminate between the main effects of age (as middle and high school athletes) and sports type, and their interaction. As use of nutritional supplements, 35.8% of the total subjects took vitamin and iron supplements and 62.5% of field and track athletes took vitamin and iron supplements. While mental stress related to exercise was much in fencing ＆gt; shooting ＆gt; field and track ＆gt; swimming athletes, physical burden during training was higher in swimming ＆gt; field and track ＆gt; fencing ＆gt; shooting athletes. More than half of the subjects showed irregular menstrual cycle. As the most severe problem of eating habit, they reported skipping meal ＆gt; overeating ＆gt; prejudiced meal ＆gt; preference to salty and spicy foods. More than half of the subjects skipped meal over three times per week. Fencing and shooting athletes showed very significantly higher frequency of skipping meal and more irregular breakfast time compared to those of other sport types. As for snack, they ate cookies, carbonated drink, chocolate, candy ＆gt; milk, yogurt, ice cream ＆gt; cake, bread, rice cake ＆gt; fried noodle ＆gt; hamburger, pizza. Therefore, nutritional counseling and education by sport type are necessary for health and good eating habit of these elite female adolescent athletes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.547-559
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• 2021

Purpose: This study compares the snacking pattern, diet, lifestyle, and food preference of children by evaluating the most frequently eaten snacks. Methods: The survey enrolled 435 students from three elementary schools in Gyeonggi. Based on the most frequently eaten snacks, the subjects were divided into 3 groups: fruits and milk/dairy products for natural snacks (NS, n = 114); noodles, snack foods and fast foods for meal-like snacks (MS, n = 74); cookies, beverages and bread as sweet snacks (SS, n = 247). Results: Compared to the MS group, preferences of the NS group were significantly higher for jabgokbap (cooked rice with multi-grains, p < 0.05) and saengchae (seasoned raw vegetables, p < 0.01), and significantly lower for gogitwigim (deep-fried meat, p < 0.05). Taste preference of the NS group was considered to be more desirable; the taste preference of more subjects was 'sweet taste' in the SS group, 'spicy taste' in the MS group, 'salty taste' in the MS and SS groups, and 'sour taste' and 'bland taste' in the NS group than the other groups. Compared to the MS and SS groups, the NS group was determined to exercise more frequently; exercising for more than 30 minutes/day was determined to be 76.3% in the NS group and 58.1% and 57.9% in the other groups (p < 0.01). Moreover, a higher proportion of subjects in the MS group tended to answer 'not hungry' as the reason for leaving school meals, as compared to other groups (p = 0.055), thereby suggesting that inappropriate snacking habits interfere with regular meals. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that healthy snacking habits, which include natural snacks such as milk/dairy products and fruits, are important for children during the elementary school years, since these habits are associated with healthier diet, lifestyle, and food and taste preferences. These results provide basic information for developing nutritional education materials for elementary school children.