Dietary Life of Chinese International Students according to the Frequency of University Foodservice Use in Korea / 대한지역사회영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Methods@#An online survey was conducted on 452 Chinese international students from February 6 to 12, 2020. The respondents were classified into “the Low-frequency group” (< one time/week; n=144), “the Mid-frequency group” (one-two times/week; n=133), and “the High-frequency group” (≥three times/week; n=175) according to their frequency of using university foodservice. The dietary life was compared among the three groups.Binominal logistic regression models were constructed to determine the associations between the frequency of university foodservice use and the changes in dietary life. @*Results@#More than 2/3 (68.1%) of the respondents used the university foodservice at least once per week. Chinese international students who were males and Han Chinese people, lived on campus, had stayed longer in Korea, and had no cooking facilities tended to use the university foodservice more often. The level of satisfaction with the university foodservice was not high (3.52 out of 5-points). Only 20% ate meals three times per day, and only 22% ate breakfast almost every day. The frequencies of overeating and skipping meals increased after studying in Korea. The frequency of university foodservice use, along with the length of residence in Korea, was associated with these negative changes in dietary life. Overeating (OR=2.11) and skipping meals (OR=1.79) were more likely to increase after studying in Korea in the Mid-frequency group than in the High-frequency group. @*Conclusions@#The frequency of university foodservice use was associated with the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea. A high frequency (i.e. ≥three times/week) of using university foodservice may positively affect the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea.