A Study on the Dietary Habits and Nutritional Knowledge of High-grade Students in Elementary School

This study was performed to investigate the dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of elementary school students (boy : 250, girl : 250) by gender. Frequency of skipping breakfast was high in both boys and girls. Duration of mealtime was significantly higher for boys compared with girls (p<0.001). Regularity of meals was not significantly different between boys and girls. Reason for irregular meals was ‘no appetite’ for both boys (39.6%) and girls (40.0%). Unbalanced diet was high in both boys (60.8%) and girls (59.6%), and problems related to dietary habits were in order of ‘unbalance diet’, ‘irregular mealtime’, ‘overeating’, ‘skip a meal frequently’, and ‘eat out frequently’. Frequency of snack intake was significantly higher for girls compared to boys(p<0.05). The criterion for selecting snacks was higher for ‘nutrition’ compared to ‘good taste’ for both boys and girls. Frequency of eating out was statistically insignificant, and eating out preferences were in the order of ‘Korean food’, ‘western food’, and ‘Chinese food’. Eating behavior ‘eat meat, fish, egg, tofu every meal’ was significantly higher for boys compared to girls (p<0.01). ‘Healthful’ response rates were 57.6% for boys and 58.8% for girls. Practice level of nutritional knowledge was significantly higher in girls compared to boys (p<0.001). To establish good eating behaviors, we should develop systematic and continuous education programs.