Comparison of food and nutrient intake between weekday and weekend for elementary and middle school students by gender in Busan and some parts of Kyungsangnamdo / 한국영양학회지

The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status of elementary and middle school students by gender with an emphasis on comparison of nutritional intake between weekday and weekend. Survey construct included one 24-hour diet recall and two diet records, short food frequency questionnaire, and anthropometry. Eating behaviors and nutritional intake were largely different for four groups divided by age and gender: ME, FE, MM, and FM. Frequency of consumption of healthful foods was significantly higher in the ME and FE groups. The highest and lowest scores for frequency of eating with parents were observed in the FE and FM groups, respectively. The amount of consumption of food groups was lower on weekends than on weekdays and this trend was more prominent in elementary schoolers compared with middle schoolers. In terms of food group consumption as well as energy and nutrient intake, the ME group showed the greatest differences between weekday and weekend, followed by FE, MM, and FM, in descending order. A significantly higher amount of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium was consumed on weekdays than on the weekend in the ME and FE groups. The amount of energy and nutrient intake was smallest in the FM group; however, the difference between weekday and weekend was minimal as well. In comparison of the subjects' energy and nutrient intake with their Korean Dietary Reference Intakes values (%KDRI), the MM group showed the most undesirable results for energy, protein, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, calcium, and zinc. Overall, findings indicated that nutritional intake status may differ between weekday and weekend for elementary and middle schoolers by gender, suggesting that youth may benefit from nutritional education programs that stress the impact of gender and weekend effect on their dietary intake.

The Use of Iron Supplements of Pregnant Women and Pregnancy Outcome / 대한지역사회영양학회지

It is known that Korean pregnant women take iron supplements at a higher than the recommended level. This study was designed to provide data on current iron intake levels both from food sources and supplement to better guide iron supplement use during pregnancy. We also explored associations of iron supplement intake levels with varioussociocultural factors and pregnancy outcomes. Dietary intakes of 510 pregnant women were assessed by a validated 102- item food frequency questionnaire, and information on types and amounts of nutritional supplement intakes were also attained. While dietary intake levels of most nutrients exceeded the KDRIs (Korea Dietary Reference Intakes: EAR: Estimated Average Requirements), folate fell short of the KDRIs. A total of 428 women (83.9%) reported to take iron supplement. The pregnant women were divided into the three groups (group I: Fe supplement intake or = 3rd pregnancy: 94.4 +/- 63.8 mg/day, p< 0.005). However, no significant difference was found between iron supplement intake levels and various pregnancy outcomes including birth weight, birth height, gestational age, weight gain during pregnancy, and jaundice. It is worrisome that iron intake by supplement use greatly exceeded the EAR, suggesting the need of appropriate guidelines for iron supplement intake during pregnancy. Thus iron overdose from supplements in pregnancy should be considered as a serious condition.

Effects of Nutrition Education Using Food Exchange System: Changes in Elementary Students' Nutrition Knowledge, Dietary Attitude and Nutrients Intake / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrition education using Food Exchange System on elementary students' nutrition knowledge, dietary attitude and nutrients intake. Nutrition education lessons (40 min /lesson, 4 times), '5 major nutrients and functions', '6 food groups and sources of 6 food groups', 'good choice of snacks and eating out' as class lesson, 'daily needed energy and food exchange units' as individual lesson, were provided to 70 elementary students (4th grade 33 students, 5th grade 37 students) in Jeonbuk Province. We assessed the changes in nutrition knowledge, dietary attitude, food habit using a questionnaire and nutrient intake using 24 hr recall method by nutrition education. In nutrition knowledge, there were significant increases in scores of 'functions of carbohydrate', 'functions of protein', 'functions of lipid', 'foods of carbohydrate', and 'foods of lipid'. In dietary attitude, there were significant increases in scores of 'taking a meal with joy', 'taking a meal at ease', 'taking a meal with sufficient protein intake' and 'taking a meal without spicy foods' by nutrition education. There were significant changes in the type of breakfast and in the frequency of snacks. After education, in type of breakfast, it showed higher number of students ate rice oriented meal than they did before education. and in frequency of snacks, it showed lower number of students ate snacks 'over 3 times' than they did before education. In Carbohydrate : Protein : Fat (CPF) ratio (%), it was significantly changed from 55.8 : 17.7 : 26.6 to 63.6 : 15.3 : 21.1. In evaluation of nutrient intake by Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs), vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, calcium, phosphate, iron and zinc showed positive changes in distribution of number of children by intake level. That is, there were significant improvements in intakes of vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, calcium, phosphate, iron and zinc. These results showed that nutrition education using Food Exchange System for elementary students improved nutrition knowledge, dietary attitude and nutrients intake. It suggest that nutrition education using Food Exchange System may improve dietary behaviors and reduce an incidence of obesity in elementary students.

Obesity and its association with diets and sedentary life style among school children in Seoul, Korea: Compliance with Dietary References Intakes for Koreans food guides

This study compared obese children's food group intakes with the new Dietary References Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) food guides for 5th-6th grade school children. This study also determined the extent of sedentary life styles related with obesity in this area of children. This is a cross-sectional study of 799 school children. The dietitian sent a survey form describing the project and a questionnaire to the subject's family. The questionnaire included child demographics, family history of chronic diseases, the daily servings of five food groups, such as grains, meat and beans, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. The daily or weekly hours of physical activity, television viewing, and computer usage were also surveyed. Obesity index (%) of the subjects was calculated, and children with an obesity index (%) equal to or greater than 20 were classified as the obese. Among the 799 participants, 50.7% were female. The percentages of the normal and the obese were 691 (86.5%) and 108 (13.5%) respectively. Obese children reported eating less vegetables (p<0.05), more high sugar snacks (p<0.05), and high fat snacks (p<0.05) than normal children. No significant differences in food servings of grains, meats and beans, and fruits, and dairy products between the normal and the obese were shown. Obese children reported fewer hours of physical activities (p<0.05) and more hours of computer usage (p<0.05) than normal children. Girls showed less likelihood of being obese (odds ratio, 0.575, CI (0.38, 0.87), p<0.05). More hours of physical activity significantly decreased the likelihood of being obese (odds ratio, 0.572, CI (0.35, 0.92), p<0.05). Family history of obesity almost doubled the likelihood of obesity in children (odds ratio, 2.653, CI (1.660, 4.241), p<0.05). In conclusion, frequent snacking, inadequate vegetable consumption, and sedentary lifestyle increased significantly the likelihood of obesity in children, which suggest that obesity intervention in this age group should focuse more on those variables.