The work performance and the factor contributing to the work performance of nutrition teacher & school dieticians / 한국영양학회지

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to investigate the work performances and the factors contributing to the work performance of nutrition teachers and school dieticians according to employment status in Daejeon and Chungcheongnamdo. METHODS: A survey was conducted among 415 school dieticians from selected elementary, middle, and high schools in the area. This survey was used for analysis of the general characteristics and the status of working and foodservice environments. The frequency of occurrence was measured using the chi2-test while analysis of differences in work performance of 57 variables grouped according to 12 categories by mean +/- SD was performed using student t-test. In addition, a regression analysis was performed to assess the influence of occupational (working and foodservice) environment on work performances. RESULTS: All 14 environmental factors including general characteristics were different between nutrition teachers and school dieticians. In 12 of 57 variables there were significant differences in work performance between the two groups. When compared using average work performance, 5 domains showed significant difference in work performance between the two groups. These 5 domains were other works (T = 6.050), dietary habit guide (T = 4.789), menu (nutrition) management (T = 3.524), foodservice administration and evaluation (T = 2.757), and production and service management (T = 2.588). Overall, the work performances of nutrition teachers were comparably higher than those of school dietitians. A correlation analysis between occupational (working or foodservice) environments and work performances of the two groups showed that the work performances of nutrition teachers were influenced by the number of employees, number of students, meal frequency a day, annual salary, age, foodservice years of school, and school type. CONCLUSION: Meanwhile, the work performances of school dieticians were influenced by the number of students, number of employees, meal frequency a day, work hour, education level, age, school type, and service years as a dietitian.

Actual Status of School Dietitians' Recognition and Use of Superior Agricultural Products in Daegu / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of the school dietitian on superior agricultural products (SAP) and the status of using superior agricultural products in school meals. Questionnaires were distributed to 185 school dietitians after face to face interview, and a total of 181 responses were used for analysis. 82.3% of the respondents were using SAPs in school meals and there was a significant difference between elementary school (95.1%), middle school (76.8%) and high school (66.7%) dietitians (p < 0.001). 85.2% of the dietitians, who were using SAP, were purchasing SAPs through electronic bidding, and the main reason of not using SAPs was the higher price of SAPs than that of general agricultural products. The good agricultural practices (GAP) product was considered the most appropriate agricultural products for school meals by the majority of respondents (66.9%), and organic products was the next (13.3%). In addition, the most important selection criterion for a SAP perceived by school dietitians was safety (58.0%), and the main reason of using SAPs in school meals, when two choices were allowed, was 'to provide healthful food to children' (98.9%). The major barriers to using SAPs in school meals (two choices were allowed) were 'too expensive' (73.5%) and 'unstable supply' (32.6). In conclusion, it was suggested that there should be an improvement in SAP supply and management systems to increase the use of SAPs in school meals.

The Effects of Individual Emotional Characteristics on Emotional Labor of School Dietitians / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of individual emotional characteristics (empathetic concern and emotional contagion) on emotional labor (frequency of emotional display, intensity and variety of emotional display, surface acting, and deep acting) of school dietitians. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey of 309 school dietitians and then analyzed statistically by SPSS 18.0 package program. The results of this study were as follows: empathetic concern (3.93) occurred more often than emotional contagion (3.22) in school dietitians. The older (p < 0.001) and more experienced (p < 0.01) they were, the higher empathetic concern they had. It showed that married dieticians (p < 0.001), nutrition teachers (p < 0.01), and dieticians who were working in elementary schools (p < 0.01) had a higher rate of empathetic concern than single dieticians, non-nutrition teachers, and dieticians who were working in middle and high schools, respectively. Their level of emotional labor was the highest in deep acting (3.32), followed by surface acting (3.28), frequency (3.12), intensity and variety (3.09). According to multiple regression analysis, emotional contagion proved to be strongly significant and positively related to frequency of emotional display (beta = 0.257, p < 0.001). Both empathetic concern (beta = 0.117, p < 0.05) and emotional contagion (beta = 0.162, p < 0.01) were positively related to intensity and variety of emotional display, and empathetic concern (beta = 0.173, p < 0.01) had also an effect on deep acting. These results suggested that the emotional labor of school dietitians should be managed on the organizational viewpoint, not a personal matter.

The Status of the Utilization Internet and Dietary Information by Elementary School Dietitians in the Gyeongnam and Jeonbuk Areas / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was carried out to investigate the status of the utilization of internet and dietary information by elementary school dietitians (total=201) The results were summarized as follows: All subjects used the internet regularly and the major purpose they mentioned for using it was "data search" (72.3%). Those having a frequency of using the internet 6 to 7 times per week were 46.7% of the subjects and the majority indicated the duration of their use of the internet was "<2 hours" (68.5%). They mainly used the internet at "school" (81.8%), and their favorite search engines were "Daum" (41.1%) and "Yahoo" (34.7%). They stated that the organization that offered reliable internet information were those "related to society and organizations" (36.9%) and "educational institutions" (33.8%). Ninety-five percent of the subjects searched for dietary information mainly "for public affairs" (80.0%) Their degree of satisfaction when searching for information was high (78.7%). Those dissatisfied with internet sites when searching for dietary information give the following reasons: "poor information" (39.1%) and "slow updates" (25.4%). They acquired information on nutrition and health management mainly through "the internet" (63.6%) The most frequently requested information about public affairs was on "Materials for nutritional education" (38.6%) and "up-to-date nutritional information" (16.0%) . The desirable update periods for websites was "1-3 months" (51.8%) and "<1 month" (30.6%), and the favorite site colors were "blue" (37.8%) and "green" (37.8%). The results of this study showed that, although the internet usage was high, the dietitians were dissatisfied with the information obtained. Therefore, the information donors should find out what kind of dietary information is needed by elementary school dietitians.

Nutritional Education Status and Recognition of the Importance of Elementary School Dietitians in the Gyeongnam Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study was carried out to investigate the nutritional education status and the recognition of the importance of elementary school dietitians (N=183) in the Gyeongnam area. The results are summarized as follows. All subjects took part in nutritional education program, but the educational methods were passive, as in the case of "home correspondence" (80.8%) and "bulletin board poster" (16.4%), and the education frequency was very low as in "one time/month" (90.2%). The subjects thought "as an independent subject" (41.5%) and "as a related subjects" (35.1%) were suitable teaching venues for the nutritional education. They were very low in individual counseling (4.5%) for school children because of "lack of opportunity" (42.2%) and "heavy work load" (24.1%). However, most of the subjects wished that nutritional counseling could offered in the future (95.5%). The parents' experience of nutritional education was also low (34.3%). Information sources for nutritional education were mainly the "internet" (53.1%) and "re-educational materials" (25.0%). The available instructional materials included "printed materials" (96.7%), "exhibition bulletin materials" (70.3%) and "electronic materials" (46.4%). The preferred education materials were "exhibition bulletin materials" (32.2%), "printed materials" (29.2%), and "electronic materiaThis study was carried ls" (27.7%). However, materials they wished to purchase were "electronic materials" (54.5%) and "cubic materials" (26.0%). These results show a difference between the preferred materials and the possessed materials. Most school dietitians (98.4%) recognized the necessity of nutritional education with respect to "good table manners" (42.0%), "correction of food prejudices" (30.3%), and "proper nutrition for growth" (21.0%). Although they had a great interest in nutritional education, they had difficulty in cutting their learning into practice because of "heavy work load" (30.9%), "lack of a systematic curriculum" (25.2%), and "lack of a educational opportunity" (22.8%). Ninety five percent of subjects wished to have nutrition education taught as an independent subject. They pointed out "kindergarten" (60.0%) and "lower grades in elementary school" (33.9%) as the optimal starting times for nutritional education and "school dietitians" (91.3%) as suitable teachers for these programs. The required topics chosen by the subjects for nutritional education for children were "proper eating habits" (54.2%) and "nutritional problem" (31.5%). The dietitians thought "food prejudices" (44.7%), "eat too much processed and instant foods" (36.5%), and "obesity" (11.8%) were the most common nutritional problems among elementary school children. These results suggest the necessity of solving the nutritional problems in children by developing a nutritional education program. Along with this program, if dietitian assisted programs for parents were developed, the effects of nutritional education could definitely be increased.

Nutrient Intake According to Dietary Attitudes of School Foodservice Dietitians / 대한지역사회영양학회지

This study investigated the correlations between nutrient intake and dietary attitudes in Korean school dietitians. A total of 493 school dietitians working in the Kangwon and Kyungnam areas participated in this study. The subjects were classified as the good group(33.5%), fair group(36.9%) and bad group(29.6%) based on dietary attitude score. The results were as follows. The average intake of energy, calcium, and iron were lower than the Korean RDA and average CPF ratio of energy intake was 64 : 17 : 19. The percent RDAs of nutrient intake of energy, calcium, iron and vitamin B1 were lower in the bad group than those in the fair group and good groups(p<0.001). The mean adequacy ratio(MAR), an index of overall dietary quality, were different among the three groups(p<0.001), the highest was 0.96 in the good group, the lowest was 0.88 in the bad group. The index of nutritional quality(INQ) was significantly higher in the good group than the other groups. The nutrient intakes were positively correlated with dietary attitudes(p<0.01). The nutrient intakes, INQ, NAR and MAR were significantly increased as the dietary attitude score increased.