• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2008

We examined dietary habits, food intakes, health status, and school and community life of meal skipping children, and investigated factors predicting meal skipping of children. A sample was composed of 944 children in low-income families who were provided with public meal service. The sample was obtained from the Survey of Meal Service for Poor Children conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2007. Meal skipping was significantly associated with a lower nutrition and health status, and poor school performance of children, as hypothesized. The school age of child, family structure, region, job of caretaker, concern about diet, and the child's visit to welfare center significantly predicted frequency of meal skipping. We suggested a few implications for community practice to reduce meal skipping of children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.558-567
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• 2010

Changes in social, economical, and cultural environments affect the meal practices of children. The transmission of traditional Korean food culture is very important because it presents not only a well-balanced diet but also contributes to shaping identity. The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school students' present meal practices and views, as well as demands on traditional food culture education to reflect future educational plans. Half of the students ate breakfast everyday and 72% ate a traditional Korean style breakfast. About 38% of the students participated 2-4 times per week in meal preparation and 34% participated in clean-up after the meal once a day. Although 6th graders had greater skills in basic cooking, they tended to be more passive upon applying their skills in daily meal practice. For traditional food culture education, 89% of the experienced and 86.2% of the inexperienced groups agreed on the necessity of traditional food culture education. Students attained traditional food culture knowledge through Silgwa, practical coursework within the curriculum, and by teachers leading classes. They were also educated by parents, mass media, and books outside of school. The preferred methods of class teaching were lecture and experiential learning. The preferred subjects to learn were 'cooking classes based on taste development', 'learning food ingredients through vegetable growing', 'traditional Korean food manners', and 'traditional Korean food culture and seasonal foods' as well as nutritional education. Fifth graders had more positive attitudes towards meal practices and traditional food culture education. Traditional Korean food culture and nutrition education should be integrated and developed into regular subject curricula to improve children's meal practice and inheritance of traditional food culture.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the nutrition quotient (NQ) by mother's parenting style which may influence the NQ in preschool children. Methods: Subjects were 310 mothers and their 4-6 year old children. The questionnaire composed of demographic characteristics, mother's parenting style at meal time and eating behavior as measured by NQ questions. The NQ questions consisted of 19 food behavior checklist items and all items were grouped into 5 factors: balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, and practice. Mother's parenting style was classified by using words for nutrition education at meal time. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS program (Ver. 23) and the statistical differences in variables were evaluated by Student's t-test, ${\chi}^2$-test, One-way ANOVA. Results: We observed that in children whose mothers use the parenting style at meal time of 'explanation' and 'compliment & cheer up' had high dietary regularity, diversity, practice. The children of mothers who use the parenting style at meal time of 'persuasion' and 'reward' were found to have a lower degree of balance, diversity, and practice. Especially, children of 'reward' style mothers had lower moderation of dietary life. On the other hand, among the parenting style at meal time of 'comparison & demand', 'treating' and 'faire', there was no significant difference in the NQ factor by each group. NQ grade was higher among those who used more explanation (p < 0.001) and persuasion (p < 0.01) and with use of less persuasion (p < 0.01) and reward (p < 0.01). The positive association observed between the frequency of dietary education of mothers and higher NQ grade indicated the degree of dietary practices of those children. On the other hand, the children of mothers who rarely practice the dietary education at home had lower NQ grade (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In order to promote children's proper dietary behaviors, it is important to provide nutrition education to children as well as provide guidance on parenting style at meal time.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2018

Sustainable meal management at home will be affected by the lifestyle of the housewife. This study examined the lifestyle of middle aged women and identified their practice levels of sustainable meal management at home. A total of 438 women, aged 35 to 59, managing the family's dietary life at home and living in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Daejeon, and Chonnan area participated in the survey. The middle aged women showed a higher performance level of hygiene-oriented (4.15) and health-oriented dietary life (3.59), but a less convenience-oriented dietary life (2.57). Based on their lifestyle, 3 clusters were extracted: Low-interest dietary life meal manager, health and quality pursuit meal manager, and convenience and eating-out pursuit active meal manager. Among them, the cluster of health and quality pursuit meal manager showed the highest sustainable practices in 7 dimensions of sustainable practices in the home except for the saving practices (p<0.001). The criteria suggested from the study can be applicable to the guidelines of sustainable meal management at home. The study can also be helpful for educators to identify the education themes for improving housewife's sustainable meal practices, having different lifestyle and sustainable meal practices.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.277-288
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• 1994

In recent years, there is remarkable tendency of overconsumption and high calorie intake which may come from a high availability of foods, the increase of food production, processed food, and imported food. This cause chronic diseases such as obesity. high blood pressure inducing heart disease, and diabetics etc. Traditional Korean eating pattern and habit make too much waste of foods and wasting time for the food preparation. The dietary guideline used for the guidance of Korean diet pattern is composed of 'nutrients-ingredient-cooking-meal which is not visualized pattern. Therefore we made up menus in the pattern of meal-cooking-ingredient-nutrient, which is more brief, compact and more visualized pattern. We set 27,000 menus with 600 kcal/meal which is combined with staple meal-main dish-side dish (30 menus of rife meal, 5 menus of bread meal, noodle meal and one serving dish meal). 600 kcal menu is basically for volume of serving per one person according to the experimental cooking and reference. This has several advantages of simple procedure of cooking, easy practice to use menus, and good source of nutritional values. In addition to these, it also provides a new menu to decrease the calorie consumption reducing the risk of chronic disease, to prevent wasting foods, and to help single person.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.644-649
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Targeting consumers who consume lunches at their worksite cafeterias would be a valuable approach to reduce sodium intake in South Korea. To assess the relationships between socio-demographic factors, consumer satisfaction, attitudes, barriers and the frequency of sodium-reduced meal intake. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We implemented a cross-sectional research, analyzing data from 738 consumers aged 18 years or older (327 males and 411 females) at 17 worksite cafeterias in South Korea. We used the ordinary least squares regression analysis to determine the factors related to overall satisfaction with sodium-reduced meal. General linear models with LSD tests were employed to examine the variables that differed by the frequency of sodium-reduced meal intake. RESULTS: Most subjects always or usually consumed the sodium-reduced meal (49%), followed by sometimes (34%) and rarely or never (18%). Diverse menus, taste and belief in the helpfulness of the sodium-reduced meal significantly increased overall satisfaction with the sodium-reduced diet (P < 0.05). We found importance of needs in the following order: 1) 'menu diversity' (4.01 points), 2) 'active promotion' (3.97 points), 3) 'display of nutrition labels in a visible location' (3.96 points), 4) 'improvement of taste' (3.88 points), and 5) 'education of sodium-reduction self-care behaviors' (3.82 points). CONCLUSION: Dietitians could lead consumers to choose sodium-reduced meals by improving their taste and providing diverse menus for the sodium-reduced meals at worksite cafeterias.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.222-232
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• 2016

Purpose: Sodium intake in school meals is very high. Accordingly, many health problems have emerged. The objective of this study was to assess school dietitian's awareness and practice of sodium contents in urban and rural locations schools and suggest sodium reduction plan in school meal service. Methods: A total of 524 nationwide school dietitians from elementary, middle, and high schools in south Korea were surveyed using questionnaires to determine their awareness and practicing behavior for reducing high-salt contents in meals. Sodium reduction plan was then suggested accordingly. Results: Most school dietitians (83%, n=436) were aware of the necessities of sodium reduction in school meals. They were aware of optimum sodium levels at 700-1000 mg. However, the percentages of dietitians who had practicing behavior of using measuring utensils for seasoning were 20.7% (n=108), 14.9% (n=78), and 13.5% (n=71) in elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively (p<0.001). Dietitians in urban elementary and middle schools had significantly (p<0.01) higher practicing behavior of using measuring utensils compared to those in rural locations. Considering low levels of soup contents with high amount of leftover, the desirable soup portions to be reduced were '50-100 mL' (n=66, 12.7%) for elementary school and '100-150 mL' for middle school (n=62, 12.0%) and high school (n=57, 11.0%, p<0.001). Conclusion: Dietitians' awareness for sodium reduction was high but their practicing behavior was relatively low. Thus, continuous efforts are required to develop reduced-sodium menu by promoting the use of measuring utensils when preparing meals and by planning no soup meal day or educating students and teachers about the importances of reducing sodium in school meals.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.342-347
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: School meals are not just meals consumed at school, they are part of the culture, education, and life experience at school. Nevertheless, few studies have revealed the influence of school meals on students' school lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of satisfaction with the school meal program on students' school happiness. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A survey conducted in December 2015 asked 2,336 students (1,062 elementary school students, 880 middle school students, and 394 high school students) about their satisfaction with the school meal program and their school happiness. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation between the students' school meal satisfaction and their happiness level. RESULTS: The average level of satisfaction with school meals of elementary school students was 4.1 out of 5 points, comparatively higher than that of middle and high school students, with a significant difference between school levels (P < 0.001). In addition, school happiness, as well as overall happiness, of elementary school students was higher than that of middle and high school students (P < 0.001). The school meal operation factor (0.232, P < 0.001) had the most influence on students' school happiness, followed by the school meal environment factor (0.219, P < 0.001) and school meal quality factor (0.136, P < 0.001). Overall satisfaction (0.097, P = 0.001) and school meal hygiene factor (0.095, P = 0.001) also had significant influences on students' school happiness. CONCLUSIONS: Students' satisfaction with the school meal program was related to their school happiness. Therefore, plans to enhance students' satisfaction with a school meal program needs to be implemented, with emphasis on placing a priority on school meal operation and school environment factors, in order to improve students' level of happiness.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to provide descriptive information on meal and snack patterns and to investigate snacks in relation to energy intake and food choice according to the meal patterns of employed people in Korea. 683 employed people (292 males, 391 females) were interviewed to collect one day dietary data by using 24-h dietary recall. A recorded day was divided into 3 meal and 3 snack periods by the respondent's criteria and the time of consumption. To analyze the eating pattern participants were divided as the more frequent snack eaters (MFSE) and the less frequent snack eaters (LFSE). They were also categorized into 6 groups according to the frequency of all eating occasions. The common meal pattern in nearly half of the subjects (47.6%) was composed of three meals plus one or two snacks per day. A trend of an increasing the number of snacks in between main meals emerges, although the conventional meal pattern is still retained in most employed Korean adults. Women, aged 30-39, and urban residents, had a higher number of being MFSE than LFSE. Increasing eating occasions was associated with higher energy, protein, and carbohydrate intakes, with the exception of fat intakes. 16.8% of the total daily energy intake came from snack consumption, while the 3 main meals contributed 83.2%. Energy and macronutrient intakes from snacks in the MFSE were significantly higher than the LFSE. Instant coffee was the most popular snack in the morning and afternoon, whereas heavy snacks and alcohol were more frequently consumed by both of the meal skipper groups ($\leq$2M+2,3S and $\leq$2M+0,1S) in the evening. In conclusion, meal pattern is changing to reflect an increase of more snacks between the three main meals. Meal and snack patterns may be markers for the energy and macronutrient intakes of employed people in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.67-77
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to identify significant differences in dietary guidelines, emotional intelligence, resilience and violence according to the frequency of family meals for middle school students in Daegu. To achieve the purpose of this study, 241 data collected through self-administered questionnaires were analyzed. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS (v25.0) program for frequency, percentage, standard deviation, reliability, one-way ANOVA and Duncan comparison. The results of this study were as follows. There was a significant difference in the level of the dietary guidelines practice, emotional intelligence and resilience according to the frequency of family meals of middle school students. Implications and suggestions based on the results of this study were as follows. First, family meal frequency is significantly related to middle school students' dietary guidelines practice, emotional intelligence, and resilience (p<0.05). Accordingly, personal efforts and social and institutional arrangements are required to increase the family meal frequency. Second, some of the core competences required in the 2015 revised curriculum were consistent with sub-areas of emotional intelligence and resilience, which can be predicted by the results that family meal experience of middle school students is also related to the development of core competences. In conclusion, increasing family meal frequency is important considering the trend of education, and is required for personality education.