Comparative Evaluation of Dietary Intake Status on Self-selected Diet in Korean Adults by Region Groups

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to compare the nutritional menu value of self-selected diet in Korean adults residing in different regions. Subjects were recruited and divided into three groups according to the districts where they lived, which included rural district(n=137), coastal district(n=100), and urban district(n=117). Subjects were interviewed using a general questionnaire and 24-hour recall method for dietary intake. The average age of the subjects were 57.5 years for rural district, 57.0 years for coastal district, and 47.9 years for urban district. The contents of energy, calcium, zinc, vitamin B2, and vitamin E in self-selected diet were 76.1%, 60.1%, 73.1%, 68.6%, and 80.4% of RDAs, respectively. Index of nutritional quality(INQ) for calcium and vitamin B2 was below in 1 in region groups. The contents of calcium and vitamin E in self-selected diet of rural and coastal districts were significantly lower than those of urban district. The numbers of food items in diet of rural, coastal, and urban district were 14.6, 15.3, 15.1 for breakfast, 16.5, 11.8, 17.0 for lunch, 14.9, 12.1, 15.1 for dinner, respectively. However, there was no significance in total food intake by regions. The food intakes from cereals, mushrooms, vegetables of rural district, that from fishes of coastal district, and those from sugars, milks, oils of urban district were the highest among three districts. The numbers of dish items in diet of rural, coastal, and urban district were 4.1, 4.4, 4.1 for breakfast, 4.5, 3.7, 4.4 for lunch, 4.0, 3.8, 4.2 for dinner, respectively. Especially, the number of food and dish items in lunch menu of coastal district was the lowest among region groups. According to these results, it could be suggested to add milk and its products in lunch menu of rural and coastal districts and to supplement fish and shellfish like anchovy in diet of rural and urban districts. And it is recommended to increase food and dish items in diets of three region groups.