• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.995-1009
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary habits, behaviors, and food consumption frequency according to gender and obesity level among middle school students in the Jeonju area. Subjects for the questionnaire were 450 middle school students (male 255, female 195) and were classified as either obese students (n=150 or non-obese students (n=299) by the obesity assessment method. The results were analyzed with SAS program (Version 9.1), and were as follows. 1. Dietary behaviors were significantly different in the rate of 'Skipping breakfast (p<0.05)', 'Duration of meal time (min) (p<0.05)' and 'Unbalanced diet (p<0.01)' between males and females. Dietary habits and behaviors also differed significantly for the rate of ‘Taste preferences (p<0.05)’, and 'Unbalanced diet (p<0.01)' between obese students and non-obese students. 2. Food consumption frequency per week was as follows. First, males were significantly higher than females in 'Instant noodle (p<0.05)', 'Milk (p<0.01)', and 'Soda pop (p<0.01)'; on the other hand females were significantly higher than males in 'Chocolate, Candy (p<0.01)'. Second, non-obese students were significantly higher than obese students in 'Instant noodle (p<0.05)', 'Hamburger, Pizza (p<0.05)', and 'Chocolate, Candy (p<001)'. Especially, non-obese male students were higher in 'Instant noodle (p<0.05)' and 'Hamburger, Pizza (p<0.05)'; non-obese female students were higher in 'Chocolate, Candy (p<0.01)'. In conclusion, an action program is needed to encourage healthful dietary behaviors, increased physical activity, and forming good lifelong habits.