• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.420-436
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the status of task performance and working conditions for nutrition teachers in order to determine new ways to improve the current nutrition system and increase job satisfaction among teachers. From the 14th of July to the 26th of September 2014, email questionnaires were distributed to and collected from 311 nutrition teachers nationwide, including teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools. The results are as follows. First, over 90% of nutrition teachers indicated that their work was demanding. In particular, 63.5% of nutrition teachers at high schools worked more than 40 hours of overtime per month. Second, 73% of nutrition teachers provided nutrition education, but the percentage significantly decreased at upper levels of school. Nutrition teachers had difficulties teaching due to the absence of standard teaching materials and a lack of time due to excessive work. Teachers also wanted 30 hours of job training once per year during their vacation organized by the regional Department of Education. Third, around half of the nutrition teachers considered that promotion and transfer professions are necessary for systematic foodservice and education. An additional allowance was demanded by nutrition teachers at schools that serve two or three meals per day. Considering the results, alleviating the workload of nutrition teachers and more time preparing nutrition classes for student are required. Fair evaluation of job performance that considers work conditions of nutrition teachers should be considered.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2009

This study was performed to investigate added sugar intakes from processed food-snacks and participation behaviors of special event days sharing sweet foods among adolescents in Korea. Questionnaire survey (n = 959), dietary survey (n = 71) by food record method for 3 days, and snack survey (n = 230) for 3 days were carried out, and subjects were overlapped among three surveys. As a result, middle school students (MS) preferred milks and fermented milks while high school students (HS) preferred breads and fast foods as a snack (p < 0.01). MS and HS took snacks three to six times a week, and HS took snacks more frequently than MS (p < 0.05). Most subjects participated in special event days sharing sweet foods such as friend's birthday (68.4%), Peppro's day (61.5%) and Valentine's day (42.6%). As for merits of these events, MS said ‘they could get along with their friends' and ‘relieve stress', while HS said ‘they could enjoy their own events' and ‘confess their affection to whom they like' (p < 0.01). A group of cookies, biscuits, breads and, cakes was major source of added sugars followed by beverages, sweet jellies of red bean, chocolates and candies for subjects. For MS and HS, daily total added sugar intakes from whole processed food-snacks were $30.5{\pm}23.5g/d$ (3.0-137.9 g/d) and $31.7{\pm}23.2g/d$ (1.2-126.1 g/d), and ratios of daily total energy taken from added sugars of whole processed food-snacks in proportion to daily total energy taken from diet (energy percent of added sugars from snacks) were $6.3{\pm}4.7%$ (0.6-26.1%) and $6.3{\pm}4.4%$ (0.3-23.9%), respectively. These results showed that subjects frequently participated in special event days sharing sweet foods. In addition, energy percent of added sugars from snacks was more than the UL suggested by WHO/FAO for some subjects. Therefore, it is highly critical to monitor adolescents' sugar intakes on a long-term basis and to take nutritional management on their high sugar intakes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.247-263
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• 2023

Purpose: This study was conducted to update the Nutrition Quotient for Adolescents (NQ-A), which is used to assess the overall dietary quality and food behavior among Korean adolescents. Methods: The first 30 candidate items of the measurable eating behavior checklist were obtained based on a previous NQ-A checklist, the results of the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, national nutrition policies and dietary guidelines, and literature reviews. A total of 100 middle and high school students residing in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province participated in a pilot study using the 25-item checklist. Factor analysis and frequency analysis were conducted to determine if the checklist items were organized properly and whether the responses to each item were distributed adequately, respectively. As a result, 22 checklist items were selected for the nationwide survey, which was applied to 1,000 adolescent subjects with stratified sampling from 6 metropolitan cities. The construct validity of the updated NQ-A 2021 was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Twenty checklist items were determined for the final NQ-A 2021. The items were composed of three factors: balance (8 items), moderation (9 items), and practice (3 items). The standardized path coefficients were used as the weights of items to determine the nutrition quotients. NQ-A 2021 and 3-factor scores were calculated according to the weights of questionnaire items. The weight for each of the 3 factors was determined as follows: balance, 0.15; moderation, 0.30; and practice, 0.55. Conclusion: The updated NQ-A 2021 is a useful instrument for easily and quickly evaluating the dietary qualities and eating behaviors of Korean adolescents.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.142-157
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a nutrition quotient for adolescents (NQ-A) to assess overall dietary quality and food behavior of Korean adolescents. Methods: Development of the NQ-A was undertaken in three steps: item generation, item reduction, and validation. Candidate items of the NQ-A checklist were selected based on literature reviews, results of the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, dietary guidelines for Korean adolescents, expert in-depth interviews, and national nutrition policies and recommendations. A total of 213 middle and high school students participated in a one-day dietary record survey and responded to 41 items in the food behavior checklist. Pearson's correlation coefficients between the responses to the checklist items along with nutritional status of the adolescents were calculated. Item reduction was performed, and 24 items were selected for the nation-wide survey. A total of 1,547 adolescents from 17 cities completed the checklist questionnaire. Exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to develop a final NQ-A model. Results: Nineteen items were finalized as the checklist items for the NQ-A. Checklist items were composed of five factors (balance, diversity, moderation, environment, and practice). The five-factor structure accounted for 47.2% of the total variance. Standardized path coefficients were used as weights of the items. The NQ-A and five-factor scores were calculated based on the obtained weights of the questionnaire items. Conclusion: Nutrition Quotient for adolescents (NQ-A) would be a useful instrument for evaluating dietary quality and food behavior of Korean adolescents. Further research on NQ-A is needed to reflect changes in adolescent's food behavior and environment.