• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2020

Dietary habits are known to be closely related not only to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but also to self-rated health (SRH). Consequently, there is a highly important lifestyle component in maintaining a healthy life. The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between diverse dietary habits based on the Sasang constitutions (SC) and SRH. The data were collected from 2,984 participants who met the constitution pharmacology criteria and whose SC were clinically confirmed by SC professionals. Dietary habits were observed by assessing the regularity of diet, meal volume, and meal speed; single-answer questions were used for SRH. Fisher's exact/chi-square test and logistic regression were used to analyze the correlation between dietary habits depending on constitutional type and SRH. In association with constitutional SRH, the Taeum type is related to the amount of meal, the Soeum and Soyang types are related to the regularity of meal and meal volume. In the Taeum type, there was a significantly higher risk of lower SRH when meal volumes were irregular less than previous amounts. Irregular diet, as well as increased or decreased meal volume, negatively correlated with SRH in the Soeum type; in the Soyang type, irregular diet and decreased or irregular meal volume negatively affected SRH. This showed the presence of the different effects of dietary habits on health depending on constitution and also confirmed the association of the regularity of diet and meal volume based on constitution and the frequency of bad dietary habits with SRH. We suggest that personalized healthcare with adequate dietary improvement considering constitution is needed for health management or improvement.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.711-719
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was 1) to investigate the food intake, dietary habits and life behavioral characteristics, and 2) to examine the relationship among these factors in a sample of adult Korean women. In October 2010, self-reported questionnaire survey was distributed to 200 women aged 30 to 65 in Gyunggi Province. Overall, 177 women participated and completed the survey. Most participants were married (97.2%) and housewives (83.6%). About 85% of respondents lived with their children. For comprehensive analysis, all respondents were divided into three age groups; 30~39, 40~49, and 50~65. The percent of intake of high protein foods such as meat and fish, eggs, and milk products was higher younger age groups (p<0.05). Moreover, age 30~39 group were more likely to eat potatoes (p<0.05) than age 50~65 group. However, age 50~65 women more frequently consumed seaweed than other age groups (p<0.01). Women who ate breakfast or dinner consumed a significantly higher frequency of vegetables, seaweed, potatoes, and kimchi (p<0.01). Additionally, women who ate breakfast with family more frequently consumed vegetables, fruit and kimchi. Furthermore, older women were likely to have less sleeping time than other groups. In conclusion, there were western dietary patterns among adult women and these dietary patterns were partly related to different life behavior and dietary habits. Considering that negative dietary habits of adult women can influence their family and health for the rest of their life, nutritional education programs based on changes in lifestyle should be developed.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.225-234
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The study was performed to investigate the degree of perceived stress by sex in middle-aged people, and to provide basic data for appropriate nutrition education and interventional measures for middle-aged subjects through comparative analysis of association between stress and dietary habits, emotional eating behavior, and insomnia. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A survey was conducted in 670 middle-aged subjects (320 men and 350 women) aged 40-64 years, resided in Seoul and Gyeonggi area. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 25.0 program. RESULTS: Perceived stress in middle-aged subjects was not different by sex. Stress was higher in men with low dietary habits level compared to other groups (P < 0.001), and was higher in women with low and moderate dietary habits level compared to women with high dietary habits level (P < 0.05). Stress in men was higher in the group with emotional eaters (P < 0.05), and the same result was shown in women (P < 0.001). Stress was higher in both men and women with poor sleep quality (P < 0.001). Stress score was positively correlated with emotional dietary behavior and insomnia (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with dietary habits (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It is considered that proper nutrition education and interventional measures according to sex are needed for stress control and proper dietary behavior and lifestyle in middle-aged people population, along with projects and policies at the national level.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.841-848
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• 2013

Background: The incidence of various types of cancers including the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has increased during the recent years. Diet and lifestyle factors have been reported to play an important role in the etiology of NHL. However, no such data are available from the Middle Eastern countries, including Oman. Materials and Methods: Forty-three histologically confirmed cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) diagnosed at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) and the Royal Hospital (RH), Muscat, Oman and forty-three age and gender matched controls were the subjects of this study. Frequency matching was used to select the control population. Information on social and demographic data as well as the dietary intake was collected by personal interviews, using a 117-items semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Results: A non-significant increased risk of NHL was observed with higher body mass index (BMI) (OR=1.20, 95%CI: 0.45, 2.93), whereas a significantly decreased risk of NHL was associated with a higher educational level (OR=0.12, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.53). A significantly increased risk was observed for higher intake of energy (OR=2.67, 95%CI: 0.94, 7.57), protein (OR=1.49, 95%CI: 0.54, 4.10) and carbohydrates (OR=5.32, 95%CI: 1.78, 15.86). Higher consumption of daily servings from cereals (OR=3.25, 95%CI: 0.87, 12.09) and meat groups (OR=1.55, 95%CI: 0.58, 4.15) were also found to be associated with risk of NHL, whereas a significantly reduced risk was associated with higher consumption of vegetables (OR=0.24, 95%CI: 0.07, 0.82). The consumption of fruits, milk and dairy products however showed no significant association with the risk of developing NHL. Conclusion: The results suggest that obesity, high caloric intake, higher consumption of carbohydrate and protein are associated with increased risk of NHL, whereas a significantly reduced risk was observed with higher intake of vegetables.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.137-151
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• 2019

Objectives: The rapidly changing dietary environment requires a study that addresses the status of middle and high school students regarding their consumption of convenience food sold at convenience stores. Methods: This study examined adolescents' lifestyle patterns, dietary habits, and status of consuming convenience food at convenience stores. A total of 659 students (329 middle school students and 330 high school students) in Incheon participated in this questionnaire survey. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 13.7 years for the middle school students, and 16.6 years for the high school students. The gender and grade distributions in the middle and high school students were similar. The middle school students reported that they spent more time using electronic devices (p<0.001) or watching TV (p<0.001) than high school students. More than 60% of middle and high school students consumed convenience food at convenience stores without statistical difference between the two groups. The main reason for consuming convenience food from convenience stores was its convenience followed by taste in both groups. Despite the high frequency of consuming convenience food, the students rarely checked the nutrition labels at the time of purchase. On the other hand, they were still most concerned about the nutritional value of the convenience foods when they consumed convenience foods. The most frequently consumed convenience food was ramyon in both groups. Significant positive correlations were observed between the frequency of consuming convenience food at convenience stores and lifestyle factors for the middle school students, including monthly allowance, time for using electronic devices, and number of private lessons. For the high school students, however, the only monthly allowance had a significant positive correlation with the consumption. Conclusions: Adolescents are increasingly exposed to convenience foods and relevant nutritional issues are a concern. Therefore, a dietary environment that is adequately formed for the healthy development of youth as well as systematic nutrient education that is appropriately designed for both middle and high school students is required.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.413-426
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• 2017

The study subjects were 302 adult males and females aged more than 20 years living in the metropolitan area of South Korea. This study was conducted to obtain baseline data to establish proper development and marketing strategies by examining the effects of food-related lifestyles on the importance of diet, purchasing behavior towards diet lunch boxes, and their selected attributes such as menu, packaging, and services. With respect to food-related lifestyle, a cluster analysis was performed by using five factors such as convenience factor, health factor, safety factor, taste factor, and economy factor obtained from factor analysis to derive the economy type, the taste and economy type, the convenience type, the safety type, and the health type. As a result, the respondents regarded 'food hygiene (4.59)', 'freshness (4.47)', 'taste (4.28)', and 'nutrient balance (4.19)' as the selected attributes of diet lunch box menus. Moreover, the importance of diet lunch box menus (${\beta}=0.179$) was increased with increasing safety orientation. 'Shelf life label (4.42)' was the most important selected attribute of diet lunch boxes, followed by 'ingredient label (4.19)', 'nutrition facts label (4.16)', and 'indication of origin (4.15)'. In particular, the importance of packaging for diet lunch boxes (${\beta}=0.203$) was increased with increasing safety orientation. With respect to the selected attributes of services in purchasing diet lunch boxes, 'provision of personalized menus (4.07)' was the most important, and the importance of services for diet lunch box (${\beta}=0.160$) was increased with increasing taste and economy orientation. Based on the above results, the respondents gave importance to the selected attributes related to food safety and health such as hygiene and, freshness. In addition, they also placed emphasis on hygiene and safe factors such as shelf life, ingredients, and nutrition facts labels. Therefore, it is considered necessary to develop diet lunch boxes by taking these factors into account. Furthermore, in services for diet lunch boxes, it is considered necessary to establish a service system capable of providing consumers with specialized menu or nutrition counseling according to the food-related lifestyle for their proper health management. Particularly, because consumers place emphasis on both food hygiene and safety, and health, it is considered necessary to thoroughly manage hygiene, safety, and nutrition in menu or packaging so that it is possible to enhance customer satisfaction by considering these selected attributes in greater detail.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.563-576
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate night-time eating habits, and dietary habit and nutrient intake of university students in a particular area of Chungnam. We surveyed night-time eating status, frequency, and preference for eating foods at night in 458 university students. We divided the subjects into two groups according to their night-time eating habits and gender and compared dietary behavior, lifestyle, and nutrient intake between the groups. In total, 77.1% of the students ate a night-time snack. The major reason why they ate a night-time snack was hunger. The cost of the night-time snacks was 3,000~10,000 won and they ate mostly with their friends. The order of frequent night-time eating foods was beverage, milk and its products, snacks, flour foods, and fruits. The subjects with a night-time eating habit skipped breakfast, went to bed late, and drank alcohol more than subjects without a night-time eating habit. Total and animal fat intake of subjects with a night-time eating habit in both men and women were significantly higher than subjects without a night-time eating habit. In conclusion, night-time eating by university students may be a bad habit from the viewpoint of skipping breakfast, drinking alcohol, and eating a high fat diet. Therefore, in support of proper dietary management, it is necessary to form positive dietary habits, including night-time eating.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.426-435
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Urbanization and lifestyle changes have resulted in nutrition transition. Over-nutrition causes obesity increase, although malnutrition still exists. This phenomenon is called a double burden of malnutrition (DBM). This study was conducted to confirm the existence of DBM and to investigate the dietary factors related to DBM in Indonesian adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data for the subjects (51 men and 89 women) who are the adults resided in Malang, Indonesia were collected between July 17 and August 14, 2017, by using questionnaire. Height, weight, waist and hip circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, and hemoglobin were also measured for the subjects. RESULTS: The average age of the subjects was 47.2 years. The average height, weight, and body mass index for men were 160.08 cm, 62.6 kg and $25.45kg/m^2$, respectively, and those for women were 148.74 cm, 58.09 kg, and $26.21kg/m^2$, respectively. Of the subjects, 3.6% were underweight, 24.3% were normal or healthy weight, while 72.2% were overweight and obese. Analysis of the dietary intakes revealed high for cereal (7.73 points), but very low for milk (0.25 points) and fruits (0.51 points). Dietary diversity was very few overall (< 5). The occurrence of both anemia (23.6%) and chronic diseases such as hypertension (57.1%), diabetes (12.1%), and hypercholesterolemia (3.6%) was considerably high. The existence of DBM was confirmed by 16.4% of the subjects. DBM was observed significantly higher in women than in men. Dietary diversity and DBM occurrence were inversely correlated. On average, the number of chronic diseases was 1.08 in men and 1.79 in women. Dietary diversity inversely affected systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: DBM existed in adults in Malang, Indonesia due to inadequate dietary intakes, and a high rate of chronic diseases.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.340-348
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• 2012

This study was performed in order to investigate dietary habits, health related lifestyle and blood cadmium and lead levels in female college students. 80 college students (43 males and 37 females) participated in the survey questionnaires. Body weight and height, blood pressure, and body composition were measured. The systolic blood pressure of male and female students were $128.9{\pm}13.9$ and $109.8{\pm}12.0$, respectively. The diastolic blood pressure of male and female students were $77.1{\pm}10.3 $and $66.0{\pm}6.9$, respectively, showing that male students had significantly higher blood pressure than female students (P < 0.001). The BMI of male and female students were $23.4{\pm}3.3$ and $20.2{\pm}2.3$, respectively. Most male students were in the range of being overweight. The dietary habits score of female students was significantly higher than that of male students (P < 0.01).The blood cadmium level of male and female students were $0.54{\pm}0.23$ and $0.52{\pm}0.36$, respectively. There was no significant difference between male and female students. The blood lead level of male and female students were $1.09{\pm}0.49 $and $0.59{\pm}0.45$, respectively. The blood lead level of male students was significantly higher than that of female students (P < 0.001). The blood cadmium level of smokers and nonsmokers were $0.69{\pm}0.29 $and $0.49{\pm}0.29$ respectively (P < 0.05). The blood cadmium level of smokers was significantly higher than that of nonsmokers (P < 0.05). The blood lead level of smokers and nonsmokers were $1.09{\pm}0.43$ and $0.80{\pm}0.54$, respectively. The blood lead level of smokers was significantly higher than that of nonsmokers (P < 0.05). Therefore, proper nutritional education programs are required for college students in order to improve their dietary and health related living habits.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.579-588
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the association among demographic characteristics, lifestyle, food habits, and stress status of 437 males and females aged over 25 years in Chungnam. Overall, the stress status of the subjects was high showing an average of 103 points out of 156 points based on the something scale. Results of the study revealed that marital status, exercise status, and health status had significant relationships with food habits and stress scores. The subjects who were married, had a higher frequency of exercise, and were healthier, had a significantly higher food habit score but a significantly lower stress score compared with their counterparts. Also, food habit scores had a significantly negative relationship with stress scores. Thus, this research showed possible links among healthy food habits, desirable lifestyle, and low stress status. In other words, people who experience a high level of stress may be more likely to have unhealthy food habits, resulting in a poor healthy conditions. These results show that appropriate food habits and adequate dietary management are deemed necessary for people with a high degree of stress. Further in-depth studies are needed to clarify a direct relationship between stress and food habits and to determine the proper diet that may help relieve stress.