Eating patterns of children's favorite foods and its related factors among elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: There are limited studies investigating the eating patterns of children's favorite foods. The present study aimed to evaluate a wide range of children's favorite foods, derive its eating patterns, and identify factors related to the patterns. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional study included 5,458 students in elementary, middle, and high schools. The survey was conducted at each school to evaluate children's favorite food intake, including the intake frequency of 31 food items or food groups, and its related factors, such as demographic, economic, and environmental characteristics and awareness of policies on children's favorite foods. Factor analysis using varimax rotation method and logistic regression analysis were conducted. RESULTS: Two factors were derived as major eating patterns from data of children's favorite foods: the ‘unhealthy eating pattern’ which mainly involves confectionery, chocolate, ramen, fried food, etc.; and the ‘healthy eating pattern’ which mainly involves soybean milk, vegetables, fruit juice, and nuts. A stepwise selection procedure through the regression analysis revealed that allowance, use of screen media, less awareness of policies on children's favorite foods, and less interest in health were positively related to the tendency of unhealthy or less-healthy eating patterns (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study examined that the eating patterns of children's favorite foods were associated with certain environmental characteristics and awareness about the related policies. These findings suggest that a nutrition education program regarding children's favorite foods needs to be conducted according to the characteristics of students to develop their healthy eating habits and proper choice of favorite foods.

Elementary school children's perceptions of traditional Korean foods, based on the health belief model

This study investigated the eating habits of elementary school children and their perceptions related to traditional Korean foods, based on the health belief model. The subjects were fifth grade elementary school children (274 boys and 274 girls) in eight Korean cities. The results were as follows: The children ate almost three meals per day and were grateful for their meals. However, they irregularly consumed meals and snacks. They tended to eat heartily and did not eat foods that they had not yet eaten. Their meals were based on rice and they have eaten kimchi and vegetables at almost every meal. However, they had undesirable habits in eating other foods, such as fruits, fish, soybeans, and sweet foods. They did not sensitively or seriously perceive their eating habits in relation to their health. They perceived that it was very good for their nutrition, health, and tastes to eat traditional Korean foods, and they had pride in traditional Korean foods and eating style. Although they expressed some difficulty regarding availability and preparation of traditional Korean foods, they hardly felt difficulty in eating them. They had high dietary self-efficacy with regard to eating these foods, except for two items of self-regulation. Their eating habits showed positive correlation with dietary self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility, and perceived benefit. In conclusion, eating habits of elementary school children in relation to traditional Korean foods are not desirable, but not serious. They did not sensitively or seriously perceive their eating habits in relation to their health. However, they perceived that it was very good for their nutrition and health to eat traditional Korean foods, did not have a high level of difficulty in eating them, and had high dietary self-efficacy with regard to eating them. Therefore, we suggest that children should be exposed to various traditional Korean foods, along with education about them, in order to enhance their concern and motivation to eat them.

The Comparisons of Elementary School Children's Food Purchasing and Consumer Competency for a Healthier Diet by Their Attitude toward the Meal Management

In this study elementary school children's food purchasing and consumer competency for a healthier diet were compared by their attitude toward the meal management. The subjects were 779 sixth grade elementary school children (417 boys and 362 girls) in Busan. They were classified into three groups: 'High' was composed of 226 subjects who had more than the mean +1/2 SD of attitude toward the meal management; 'Medium' was composed of 343 subjects who had the mean +/-1/2 SD; and 'Low' was composed of 210 subjects who had the less than the mean -1/2 SD. The results were as follows. The high group had less pocket money than the low group, and thought that their allowances were adequate to their needs. They also had a habit of entering amounts into an account book. The children in the low group purchased mostly snacks without making or practicing a budget. The high group purchased yogurt, fruit, or bread as snacks more frequently than the low group. More children checked the nutrient facts on the package in high group than in the low group. There were no significant differences in the consumer's knowledge of a healthy diet among the groups; but there were significant differences in the consumer's skill, and the consumer's attitude toward a healthy diet among the groups. The high group had higher skills and more positive attitudes than the low group. This research suggests that education can elevate interest and can help develop more positive attitudes toward healthy diets among children. The education can help them to develop planned food purchasing habits, and improve their consumer competency for a healthy diet.