• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.40-55
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide basic information on the development of nutrition education programs to improve the mealtime behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by investigating the mealtime behavior and food preferences of children with ASD through the perception of special education teachers. Surveys were given to 108 special education teachers in special education schools in Korea regarding the demographic characteristics, nutrition education support needs, mealtime behavior, and food preferences of children with ASD. Most of the special education teachers responded that nutrition education in special schools had not been conducted properly and nutrition education for ASD children is necessary. Mealtime behavior analysis classified the behavior into three clusters: cluster 1, 'less problematic mealtime behavior'; cluster 2, 'general feature of autism'; cluster 3, 'difficulty in self-directed diet'. The age, eating habits, and food preferences were different according to each mealtime behavior cluster. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop a nutrition education program based on the characteristics of mealtime behavior.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.44-56
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• 2012

This study investigated dietary behavior and nutrient intake in children with developmental disorders as compared with non-disabled children and assessed the relationship between dietary behavior and nutrient intake. The survey was conducted on 118 students ($4^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ grade) of four special education schools and 244 students of an elementary school (control group). The survey was carried out using a questionnaire and an interview. Of the disabled children, children with a mental disorder comprised 72.9% and those with emotional disorders including autism comprised 26.3%. The average percentages of height and weight to standards for age were significantly lower in the disabled female children as compared with the non-disabled female children. Scores for table utensil handling skills, eating behavior, and an unbalanced diet were lower in the disabled children compared with those in the non-disabled children. Dietary behavior scores were not significantly different by either gender or age in the disabled children. Mean energy intake was less than the estimated energy requirement in both groups. Nutrients taken at less than the recommended intake level were calcium, iron, vitamin A, and folate in both groups. Food behavior score at mealtime, personal hygiene score at mealtime, and an unbalanced diet score were significantly correlated with iron and vitamin A intake in disabled male children. Personal hygiene score at mealtime was significantly correlated with calcium, iron, and vitamin A intake, and unbalanced diet score was significantly correlated with iron and vitamin A intake in disabled female children. Although the nutritional status of disabled children with developmental disorders was appropriate in general, improvement in their dietary behaviors through education and practice would allow them to eat balanced diets with essential nutrients.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.699-709
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• 2009

In order to identify valuable factors for improving dietary quality of Korean rural elderly, the consumption frequency of food groups, dietary habits and health behaviors related to nutrient intakes of the elderly over 85 of Sunchang County were studied. The 171 subjects (61 males and 110 females) were chosen from Sunchang Province by stratified sampling. Among food groups, the consumption frequency of meat and fish groups influenced significantly on their nutrient intakes than the other groups. The subjects consuming more than 4 times per week of meat or fish had significantly higher nutrient intakes level than the other groups. The group consuming milk and milk products everday was higher in vitamin $B_2$ intake level than the other groups. Among dietary habits, the groups with good appetite and regular mealtime compared with the groups with low appetite and irregular mealtime had significantly higher nutrient intake levels. The family type was the determining factor of nutrient intakes. The subjects living with family members consumed higher nutrient intakes than the subjects living alone. The smoking and the alcohol consumption themselves did not affect nutrient intakes, but the subjects having alcohol consumption frequently more than once a day had lower nutrient intakes than the others. The group with dentures did not differ significantly from the without denture group in nutrient intakes; however, those who had chewing problems showed the lower nutrient intakes compared to those who did not have chewing problems. The subjects with more than two kinds of clinical symptoms had lower nutrient intakes than the subjects with less than two kinds of clinical symptoms. These results indicate that the identifying factors for desirable nutrient intakes of rural elderly were characterized as appropriate consumption frequencies of meat and fish, good appetite, living with family, regular mealtime, chewing without difficulty, and low incidence of chronic disease.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.226-233
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• 2009

Traditional nutrition education has not been shown to consistently produce behavior change. While it has been suggested that using emotion-based messages may be a better way to influence nutrition behavior change, this has not been well tested. Producing emotion-based messages is a multi-step process that begins with exploring subconscious barriers to behavior change rather than the more obvious and typically reported barriers. The purpose of this research was to uncover the emotional reasons, sometimes referred to as emotional pulse points, for mothers' choosing or not choosing to have more family meals. This would then serve as the first step to developing emotion-based messages promoting the benefits of family meals. Five focus group interviews were conducted with 51 low-income Black (n=28) and white (n=23) mothers. Metaphorical techniques were used to determine underlying feelings toward family and family meals. Discussions were video-taped, transcribed, and manually analyzed using a content-driven, immersion/crystallization approach to qualitative data analysis. Four themes emerged around the definition of family: acceptance, sharing, chaos, and protective/loyal. Some mothers felt mealtime was merely obligatory, and described it as stressful. Some reported a preference for attending to their own needs instead of sitting down with their children, while others felt that mealtime should be used to interact with and educate children and felt guilty when they were not able to provide family meals. Three themes emerged around feelings towards having or not having family meals: unimportant, important, and guilty. When explored further, mothers indicated that using the feeling of guilt to encourage family meals might be effective. Data obtained are being used to develop innovative, emotion-based messages that will be tested for effectiveness in promoting family meals.

• Korean Journal of Health Psychology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.711-727
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to develop and standardize the Korean version of the Parent Mealtime Action Scale(K-PMAS). The parents of typically developing preschool and elementary school children (N=887) ranging in age from 1 to 11 years as well as parents of children with developmental disorders (N=116) completed the PMAS. A subset of the participants were retested for reliability and also completed the Children's Eating Behavior Inventory- Korean Version (K-CEBI), which was used for assessing validity. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the theoretically-based 8-factor structure of PMAS fit the data well. The PMAS scores suggested acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Validity was also supported by significant correlations between the K-CEBI scores and the differences in K-PMAS scores between the parents of children with developmental disorders and those of typically developing children. The results of one-way ANOVA showed no significant differences in K-PMAS scores between the genders. However, there were significant differences across ages. The means and standard deviations of the PMAS scale scores are provided. Clinical and research implications as well as limitations are discussed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate children's eating behaviors and teachers' feeding practices during mealtime at child-care centers. In addition, it focused on the difference of teachers' feeding practices on children age under 2 years ( ${\leq}2$ years old) and 3 years and older (3~5 years old). Methods: A total of 169 teachers working at childcare centers in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Korea, completed self-report questionnaires in December 2013. The questionnaires were composed of questions on children's eating behaviors, feeding practices; 'Explain', 'Praise', 'Modeling', 'Indulgent', 'Insist' and 'Reward', interaction with home, and a range of demographic information (analysis rate: 51.2%). Results: Approximately 59.2% of teachers had not taken a class on feeding practice and the average score for nutrition knowledge was 14.6 out of 30 points. The most undesirable eating behavior of children during mealtime was 'eating while walking around (36.7%)' both ' ${\leq}2$ years old' and '3~5 years old'. Regarding feeding practices according to children's undesirable eating behaviors during mealtime, there were differences between age groups. When children did not eat all of the foods that were served and did not clean up silverware or seats after having food, teachers caring for '3~5 years old' practiced 'Explain'. However, percentages of those who practiced 'Indulgent' and 'Modeling' were significantly higher in teachers caring for ' ${\leq}2$ years old' than '3~5 years old'. Conclusion: These findings indicated that teachers caring for children lack education and knowledge about nutrition and feeding practice. In addition, verbal feeding practices, like explain, were mainly used by teachers. As a result, for teachers, guidelines and programs for learning about age appropriate feeding practice during mealtime at child-care centers may be needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.323-332
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• 2020

This study examined Korean employees' meal structure characterized by mealtime, meal places, and companions. The data from 19,692 time diaries, recorded by 9,846 employees aged 19-64 years for two days in the 2014 Korean Time Use Survey, were analyzed for working days and non-working days. Approximately two-thirds of Korean employees ate meals three times a day on both working and non-working days. The breakfast and lunch-times on working days were distributed within two hours, but the dinner time on working days and all three meals on non-working days were dispersed across a three-hour range. Male employees spent three minutes on meal preparation on working days, whereas females spent 30 minutes. On working days, 88% of breakfasts and 67% of dinners were eaten at home. For lunches, 46% were eaten at restaurants, and 42% were at workplaces. The breakfast on working days showed the highest percentage of eating alone (40%) and the dinner on non-working days appeared highest in the percentage of eating with families (69%). The characteristics of Korean employees' meal structure appeared different on working days and non-working days. Such characteristics should be considered in the process of planning nutrition policies and programs for employees.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.166-176
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• 2009

This study was performed to develop dietary education programs for children, by researching the actual conditions of dietary education and its demand aimed at teachers in child centers in Masan. Most of the interviewed teachers were in their 20s(71%) with under 5 years teaching experiences(56.8%), and working in a kindergarten environment(34.9%). The rate of doing dietary education on mealtime was 96.4%. The main items taught pertained to 'not leaving food(20.6%)' and 'washing hands before meals(20.5%)'. The primary teaching method for students with unbalanced eating habits was 'eating after teaching them to understood(76.8%). The primary reward for good behavior was 'using food(76.8%)', usually as 'candy'(50.8%) or 'cookies'(25.8%). The desirable dietary education type was 'during spare moments(52.6%)' and 'at mealtime (23.5%)'. The concepts taught were 'balanced eating(23.2%)' and 'food hygiene(21.2%), and the students were interested in 'the roles of foods and nutrients'(34.5%), 'balanced eating(20.9%)', and 'food hygiene(19.1%)'. Educational activities encompassed 'pictures and drawing(25.7%)', 'fairy tales(23.4%)', 'songs(19.4%)', and 'play(14.1%)'. Also, the activities of most interest were 'fairy tales(29.4%)', 'play(24.4%)', and then 'songs(23.1%)'. The greatest difficulties during dietary education were 'attracting interest from the children(37.8%)' and 'making and purchasing materials(33.9%)'. Approximately, 44.2% of the teachers had experiences in dietary education, and 96.4% stated teachers had the intention to participate in dietary education. They want to address 'child meal direction(23.0%)', 'health problems(22.7%)', and then 'child nutrient requirements (17.3%)'. Also the majority wanted it two times per year(57.6%) or one time per year(30.9%). This study indicated that proper dietary education must be established in child centers by developing various practical dietary education programs and then implementing them.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.552-563
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• 2014

This study was performed to investigate the dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of elementary school students (boy : 250, girl : 250) by gender. Frequency of skipping breakfast was high in both boys and girls. Duration of mealtime was significantly higher for boys compared with girls (p<0.001). Regularity of meals was not significantly different between boys and girls. Reason for irregular meals was 'no appetite' for both boys (39.6%) and girls (40.0%). Unbalanced diet was high in both boys (60.8%) and girls (59.6%), and problems related to dietary habits were in order of 'unbalance diet', 'irregular mealtime', 'overeating', 'skip a meal frequently', and 'eat out frequently'. Frequency of snack intake was significantly higher for girls compared to boys(p<0.05). The criterion for selecting snacks was higher for 'nutrition' compared to 'good taste' for both boys and girls. Frequency of eating out was statistically insignificant, and eating out preferences were in the order of 'Korean food', 'western food', and 'Chinese food'. Eating behavior 'eat meat, fish, egg, tofu every meal' was significantly higher for boys compared to girls (p<0.01). 'Healthful' response rates were 57.6% for boys and 58.8% for girls. Practice level of nutritional knowledge was significantly higher in girls compared to boys (p<0.001). To establish good eating behaviors, we should develop systematic and continuous education programs.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.352-362
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of obesity stress on the eating behavior of elementary school students. Using a questionnaire, 300 students in the sixth grade from 2 schools in Kyunggi-do were surveyed (Boys: N=145, Girls: N=155). Data analysis was managed by SPSS software (version 13.0). The link between obesity stress and eating habits or behaviors was dependent on physical discomfort. There was also a large group of students experienced irregularity in their meal times during the day. Furthermore, there were significant differences in mealtime among boys under psychic stress caused by obesity. In the case of dairy intake during breakfast, the significant signs of obesity stress for were physical discomfort for boys and psychic stress for the girls. It was found for both boys and girls that more frequent midnight snacking decreased the efforts to overcome obesity stress. Therefore, a professional nutrition program that can educate school children must be implemented both in school and at home. In addition to overweight or obesity children, normal weight and underweight children can also benefit from this program that includes health counseling for weight and eating behaviors.