• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine mothers' eating behavior and salty taste and its relationship to their preschool children's eating behaviors. Methods: This survey was conducted by self-report after getting permission from sixty one mothers who had preschool children. The questionnaire was focused on mothers' salty test and salt-related eating behavior of both mothers and their preschool children. Results: Comparison of eating behavior score between mother and their preschoolers showed that mothers' score was lower than their preschoolers' one. Salty foods with high preference and intake frequency by mothers and preschoolers were 'salted dry fish, stock fish' and 'soup, stew, noodle soup'. In addition, there were strong positive correlations between preference and intake frequency on most of the salty food items. Intake of Ramen soup was significantly different (p < 0.001) between the two groups. Preschoolers ate less ramen soup compared to their mothers. Conclusions: Overall results showed that preschoolers' dietary behavior was better than the mothers' one. However, preschoolers' dietary behavior was significantly influenced by their mothers. Therefore, mothers should have an appropriate eating behavior in order to have a positive influence on their children's eating habits. In addition, the results suggested that proper nutrition education is needed for mothers of preschool children.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2007

Inadequate dietary intakes and poor health behaviors are of concern among rural residents in Korea. This study is conducted to compare dietary intakes, dietary diversity score (DDS), mean nutrient adequacy ratio (MAR) and health related behaviors by rural, factory and urban areas in Asan. A total of 930 adults (351 men and 579 women) were interviewed to assess social economic status (SES), health related behaviors and food intakes by a 24-hour recall method. Mean age was 61.5 years with men being older (64.8 years) than women (59.3 years, p<0.001). Men in the factory area were older than rural or urban men while urban women were the youngest. Education and income of urban residents were higher than other area residents. There were more current drinkers in urban area while smoking status was not different by regions. Physical activity was significantly higher in rural or factory areas, whilst urban residents exercised more often (p<0.05). Rural or factory area residents considered themselves less healthy than others while perceived stress was lower than urban residents. Energy intakes were higher in urban residents or in men, however, after SES was controlled, energy intake did not show any differences. Energy-adjusted nutrient intakes were significantly higher in the urban area (p<0.05) for most nutrients except for carbohydrate, niacin, folic acid, vitamin $B_6$, iron and fiber. Sodium intake was higher in factory area than in other areas after SES was controlled. DDS of rural men and MAR of both men and women in the rural area were significantly lower when SES was controlled. In conclusion, dietary intakes, diversity, adequacy and perceived health were poor in the rural area, although other health behaviors such as drinking and perceived stress were better than in the urban area. In order to improve perceived health of rural residents, good nutrition and exercise education programs are recommended.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.407-418
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• 2015

Purpose: Given that the indicators related to chronic diseases are important to evaluating goals of the national health policy, the aim of this study was to develop dietary behavior items available in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: The dietary behavior items were developed based on the literature reviews, need assessment of the field, expert focus-group interviews, and expert advisory meeting. Questions for each dietary behavior item were developed by reflecting on environmental, personal, and behavior factors of the ecological frame and then revised through expert focus-group interview and expert advisory meeting. The understanding and reliability of the developed questionnaire were assessed by cognitive interview and test-retest reliability. Results: The developed items were sodium and salt intake, added and simple sugar intake, enough time to consume a meal for all ages, caffeine drinks and fresh/healthy food intake for children and adolescents, and limited dietary intake, fresh/healthy food intake for seniors. In most questions except some questions on sodium and salt intake, subjects understood over 70% and consistency of responses based on the kappa values was acceptable. Conclusion: Developed dietary behavior items are expected to be useful for evidence-based nutrition policy, interventions and research targeting dietary patterns through investigating and monitoring dietary behavior patterns.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.513-526
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of low sodium diet education program on dietary habits, diet quality, and measures of obesity in overweight or obese middle-aged women. Methods: Subjects were 81 individuals aged 45 years or over, who completed an 8-week nutrition education. The subjects were divided into a normal group (N = 30) and an overweight-obese group (N = 51) according to the BMI. The effects were evaluated by anthropometric measurement, biochemical analysis, questionnaire, and diet records before and after the program. Results: Overweight-obese group showed significant decreases in weight (p < 0.0001), BMI (p < 0.0001), percent of body fat (p = 0.0087), waist circumference (p < 0.0001), systolic (p = 0.0003) and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.0261). Nutrients intakes were not different between the two groups and only sodium intake was decreased after education. Total score of general dietary habits, dietary behavior related to sodium intake, dietary diversity score (DDS), diet variety score (DVS), and diet quality index-international (DQI-I) were improved in both groups compared to the baseline. Overweight-obese group showed significant improvement in 'having fruits everyday', 'having fish everyday', 'trying to eat many kinds of food', 'eating less broth when eating soup, stew, and noodles', 'eating less kimchi and salt-fermented vegetable', and 'propensity to think that dishes should be pretty seasoned'. In addition, moderation of empty calories food (p = 0.0064) and macronutrient ratio (p = 0.0004) were improved in the overweigh-obese group, but in the normal group, the results did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: These results suggested that low sodium diet education program may contribute to obesity management by improving diet quality and dietary habits in middle-aged women.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.578-588
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations of dietary sodium (Na) intake with salt-related dietary behaviors of 218 university students (95 men; 123 women) living in Gyeonggi area. Dish frequency questionnaire (DFQ) was used to identify salt-related dietary behaviors and to determine Na intakes. In men, systolic & diastolic blood pressures, Na intakes and DFQ-15 scores were significantly higher than in women. High-salt intake group (HS), classified by DFQ-15, had higher scores of high-salt dietary attitude and more Na intakes than low-salt intake group (LS). HS took protein foods and had balanced diets less frequently than LS (p<0.05). HS had fried dishes & fatty meats, and added salt to dishes more frequently (p<0.05). HS and LS had differences in preference of soy-boiled and Chinese or Japanese foods, in intake frequency of bean-paste soup, in use of soy sauce with fried food or raw fish, and in salt addition to dishes at the table (p<0.05). HS, classified by Na intakes, had high-salt dietary attitudes such as preference of seasoned rice & soy-boiled foods and habitual addition of soy sauce or salt to dishes at the table. The subjects using food labels when purchasing had better salt-related attitudes & behaviors, and lower DFQ-15 scores & Na intakes than the non-users (p<0.01). Self-assessed HS (SHS) had worse salt-related attitudes and behaviors (p<0.05). Male self-assessed LS (SLS) had higher Na intakes, which indicated that self-assessment of salt preference did not actually reflect Na intake. In summary, male university students belonged to a high-risk group of salt intakes, and HS preferred soy-boiled foods or fatty dishes, frequently added salt to dishes and rarely had balanced diets. These results suggest that nutrition education programs for university students should include fundamental dietetics and a balanced diet, in addition to a low-Na diet.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.174-187
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate an education program for housewives to reduce sodium intake based on the social cognitive theory. Methods: Housewives (n = 387) received 2 education sessions focused on food purchase and cooking, and completed a questionnaire on their perceptions of environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors and the stages of behavioral change to reducing sodium intake both before and after the education program. Results: After the education program, the recognition of social efforts for sodium reduction and sodium labeling and experience with low-sodium products increased. Positive expectancies for the prevention of osteoporosis by the reduction of sodium were enhanced while the main barriers in practicing sodium reduction decreased, especially 'interrupting social relationships when dining with others', 'bad taste', 'preference for soup or stew', and 'limited knowledge and skills to practice'. In addition, cognition and nutrition knowledge related to reducing sodium intake were improved on all scores, but the effect on self-efficacy and dietary behavior was limited to only a few items. The percentage of participants in the pre-action stage (including pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages) for reducing sodium intake decreased from 43.2% before education to 21.5% after education, while that in the action stage increased from 19.6% before education to 43.5% after education (p < 0.001). The education program had the most significant impact on participants who were in the pre-action stage and showed improved scores in all sections. Conclusion: These results suggest that a customized education program for housewives could be an effective tool to reduce sodium intake by improving personal expectancies, cognition, and nutrition knowledge regarding sodium reduction and enabling a greater section of the population to move to the action stage of reducing sodium intake.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.226-233
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to evaluate salt-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutrition knowledge according to urinary salt signal of university students. Based on urinary salt signal, we classified subjects into an "adequate Na intake (ANI)" group (n=52) (salt ${\leq}6g$) and "excess Na intake (ENI)" group (n=66) (salt >6 g). Subjects were asked about general characteristics, lifestyle, salt-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutritional knowledge using questionnaire. The ENI group had more subjects who were drinkers (P<0.05) compared to the ANI group. The ENI group (33.45) showed a significantly lower score in terms of salt-related dietary attitudes compared to the ANI group (35.50) (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the total score of salt-related dietary behavior between the groups. The score of nutrition knowledge was significantly higher in the ANI (9.77) group than in the ENI (8.82) group (P<0.05). The correlation analysis indicated that the urinary salt signal had a negative correlation with the salt-related dietary attitude score after adjustments for age, sex, and body mass index (r=-0.2100, P<0.05). These results support the validity of using the urinary salt signal to simplify estimation of sodium intake.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.228-241
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• 2018

Purpose: The health risk of women increases after menopause. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a public health center-based nutrition education program for hypertension in women older than 50 years of age. Methods: The program included 8-week nutrition education and 8-week follow-up with keeping a health diary and nutrition counseling. The program was evaluated three times: before and after the nutrition education, and after the follow-up. The subjects were classified into hypertensives (n = 44) or normotensives (n = 71). Results: The rate of taking antihypertensive drugs in the hypertensive group was 86.4%. The systolic blood pressure decreased in the hypertensive and normotensive groups after nutrition education (p < 0.05). The body weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.001), and percent body fat (p < 0.01) were also decreased after nutrition education in both groups. The hypertensive group showed an increase in HDL-cholesterol level (p < 0.001) and decreases in triglycerides (p < 0.01) and LDL-cholesterol (p < 0.05) levels after completion of the program. The normotensive group also displayed significant changes in HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001) and triglycerides (p < 0.01). The dietary habits and nutrition knowledge on sodium and hypertension were improved in both groups (p < 0.001). The total score of dietary behavior related to the sodium intake was improved in the normotensive group (p < 0.001). The total score of the high sodium dish frequency questionnaire decreased in both groups after nutrition education and completion of the program compared to that before the program. Decreases in the consumption frequencies of noodles, pot stews and stews, Kimchi, and beverages were significant. The total self-efficacy score was increased in both groups by the program (p < 0.001). In particular, the hypertensive group showed improvement in all items. Conclusion: This public health center-based nutrition education program may contribute to the prevention and management of hypertension and chronic diseases in women over 50 years of age.