Korean J Nutr.  2012 Aug;45(4):336-346. 10.4163/kjn.2012.45.4.336.

A comparison of health related habits, nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, and blood composition according to gender and weight status of college students in Ulsan

• Kim HK
• Kim JH
• Jung HK

• KMID: 2268710
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4163/kjn.2012.45.4.336

Abstract

This study was carried out to obtain information related to life styles, nutrition knowledge, and dietary habits according to gender and weight status of college students in Ulsan. The subjects were 324 college students (144 males, 180 females), and they were divided into three groups based on BMI. The average BMI was 21.0 kg/m2, and the BMI of underweight, normal, and overweight students were 15.4%, 63.0%, and 21.6%, respectively. Among the male students, 0.1% and 34.0%, and among the female subjects, 27.2% and 11.7%, were included in the underweight and overweight groups, respectively. For dietary habits, the rate of skipping breakfast (34.9%) was considerably higher than those skipping lunch and dinner. Overall, the nutrition knowledge score, which was assessed by 15 questions, was somewhat low (44.9/100), yet, it was higher in females than in male students. There were significant differences among gender and weight status in several items of dietary habits such as the speed of eating meals, consuming breakfast on a regular basis, and sleeping hours. 40% of the subjects had appropriate knowledge about high calorie foods with low nutritional value. In the blood analysis of the subjects, males had higher hemoglobin levels than females. Further, more females were included in the risk group of Hb, total cholesterol, and LDL. These results suggest that in order to develop nutrition education programs for college students, differences between gender and weight status, dietary habits, and nutrition knowledge level should be considered.

Keyword

health related lifestyle; nutrition knowledge; dietary habits; blood composition; college students

MeSH Terms

Breakfast
Cholesterol
Eating
Female
Food Habits
Hemoglobins
Humans
Life Style
Lunch
Male
Meals
Nutritive Value
Overweight
Thinness
Cholesterol
Hemoglobins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Dieting method of the subjects.

Reference

1. Statistics Korea. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/index.action.

2. Lee JS, Kim GS. Factors on the seafood preference and eating frequency of the elementary school children. J Korean Soc Food Sci Nutr. 2000. 29(6):1162–1168.

3. Kim KS. A study on food habit and food preference of college students in Incheon area [dissertation]. 1988. Incheon: Inha University.

4. Lee KA. A comparison of eating and general health practices to the degree of health consciousness in Pusan college students. J Korean Soc Food Sci Nutr. 1999. 28(3):732–746.

5. Jwa HJ, Chae IS. Body shape satisfaction, nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, and weight control attitude of Korean high school students. Korean J Food Cult. 2008. 23(6):820–833.

6. Soh HK, Lee EJ, Choi BS. The development of nutrition education program for improvement of body perception of middle school girls (I). The analysis of problems according to the body perception of middle school girls. Korean J Food Cult. 2008. 23(3):403–409.

7. Kim BR, Han YB, Chang UJ. A study on the attitude toward control, diet behavior and food habits of college students. Korean J Community Nutr. 1997. 2(4):530–538.

8. Kim BS, Lee YE. The relationship of food behaviors with body image and BMI of female college students in Jeonbuk province. J Korean Living Sci Assoc. 2000. 9(2):231–243.

9. Park HS, Lee HO, Sung CJ. Body image, eating problems and dietary intakes among female college students in urban area of Korea. Korean J Community Nutr. 1997. 2(4):505–514.

10. Cho HR, Choi J. Relationship between body satisfaction and appearance enhancement behavior of college students. J Korean Living Sci Assoc. 2007. 16(4):825–835.

11. Kim M, Kim H. Analyses on the dieters' characteristics and the factors determining diet practice in college. J Korean Living Sci Assoc. 2008. 17(3):521–532.

12. Lee YS, Oh SY, Kim GW. Analysis on the health condition, meal type and snack preference of university students in Chungnam province. Korean J Hum Ecol. 2010. 19(2):409–416.

13. Kim H, Kim M. Analysis on awareness and practices for diet according to lifestyles of college students. Korean J Hum Ecol. 2010. 19(1):157–165.

14. Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The forth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV) 2007. 2009. Cheongwon: 8–49.

15. Magarey AM, Daniels LA, Boulton TJ, Cockington RA. Predicting obesity in early adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003. 27(4):505–513.

16. Park YS, Lee Y, Hyun T. Comparison of dietary behaviors by type of residence among college students. Korean J Diet Cult. 1995. 10(5):391–404.

17. Kim HK, Kim MJ. Effects of weight control program on dietary habits and blood composition in obese middle-aged women. Korean J Nutr. 2010. 43(3):273–284.

18. Hwang EM. A survey on body image recognition, weight adjustment and eating habits consciousness according to BMI of university student [dissertation]. 2010. Ulsan: University of Ulsaniseas.

19. Obesity fact sheet. 2010. [cited 2010 Sept. 14]. Available from: http://www.kosso.or.kr/board/view.html?code=general&num=778.

20. Korean Society of Lipidology and Atherosclerosis. Korea dyslipidemia treatments guideline. 2009. 2nd edition. Seoul: 31–36.

21. Kim KH. Comparisons of dietary, living habits and blood parameters in underweight and overweight university students. Korean J Food Cult. 2006. 21(4):366–374.

22. Jung MG. A study on the body mass index and dietary behaviors of middle school student in Seoul [dissertation]. 2001. Cheongwon: Korea National University of Education.

23. Choi SN, Chung NY. Bone density, nutrient intake, blood composition and food habits in non-smoking and non-alcohol drinking male university students. Korean J Food Cult. 2010. 25(4):389–399.

24. Kim MS, Kim HJ. A study for eating behavior of university students (I). Korean J Soc Food Cookery Sci. 2003. 19(2):127–135.

25. Park MH. Realities of nutrition habits and food intake of undergraduate students in Daegu and Gyeongbuk district [dissertation]. 2006. Daegu: Yeungnam University.

26. Hermann JR, Kopel BH, McCrory ML, Kulling FA. Effect of a cooperative extension nutrition and exercise program for older adults on nutrition knowledge, dietary intake, anthropometric measurements, and serum lipids. J Nutr Educ. 1990. 22(6):271–274.

27. Chung HK, Lee HY. The concepts of weight control and dietary behavior in high school seniors. Korean J Nutr. 2010. 43(6):607–619.

28. Mallick MJ. Health hazards of obesity and weight control in children: a review of the literature. Am J Public Health. 1983. 73(1):78–82.

29. Ryu HK, Yoon JS. A comparative study of nutrient intakes and health status with body size and weight control experience in adolescent females. Korean J Community Nutr. 2000. 5(3):444–451.

30. Park YS, Lee YW, Choi K. Objectivity of self-evaluated obesity and attitude toward weight control among college students. Korean J Diet Cult. 1995. 10(5):367–375.

31. Kim JS, Park E, Min H, Kang MH. Relationships of plasma homocysteine concentration and oxidative stress markers in Korean college students. Korean J Nutr. 2010. 43(5):443–452.

32. Kim KH. A study on the dietary and the living habits of university freshmen and undergraduate students. Korean J Food Cult. 2004. 19(6):620–629.

33. Cha YS, Kim IS, Joo EJ. Comparison of body fat metabolism in middle-aged women depending upon swimming practice. Korean J Nutr. 1995. 28(5):397–405.

34. Saloumi C, Plourde H. Differences in psychological correlates of excess weight between adolescents and young adults in Canada. Psychol Health Med. 2010. 15(3):314–325.