This study examined the eating habits and preferences of foods according to the age of children with autism spectrum disorders and identified the nutritional needs of parents to support their healthy eating habits and provide basic data for the development of educational programs. A survey of 100 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders was conducted on their children’s snack intake, food preferences, and parents’ nutrition education needs. As a result, there were four times more boys than girls, and the body mass index differed according to age (p<0.001). Most children ate snacks more than once a day, and parents found that they wanted to develop nutritious snacks that could replace high-protein, low-calorie meals with the minimal use of additives. For the food preference, there was a significant difference in grains and starches, vegetables/seafood and fruits, milk and dairy products (p<0.05), fats and sugars, and Korean fermented pastes (p<0.01) between the two age groups. Regarding whether nutrition education was required, many parents had a high demand for nutrition education (4.24±0.70), and the intention to participate was 3.62±1.09. The most important content to be dealt with in parent education was ‘Inducing a change in bad eating habits and behaviors’, which was the highest (63%), and mostly face-to-face education was preferred. In conclusion, young children require diet education, and older children need to focus on weight control and obesity.

This study examined the lifestyle factors, dietary attitudes, food habits, and dietary nutrition intake of college students before and after nutrition education. A total of 44 college students were recruited and a questionnaire survey was conducted. Dietary nutrient consumption was obtained from the one day 24-hr recall. Scores on ‘Concerns about health (p<0.05)’, ‘Regular exercise (p<0.01)’, and number of steps (p<0.001) were significantly higher after-training. The dietary attitude (31.3 vs. 33.7, p<0.01) and food habits (53.5 vs. 59.7, p<0.01) were significantly higher after-training. The scores on ‘Eating a lot of food that I want to eat is more important than nutrition (p<0.01)’, ‘I am interested in information on nutrition and health (p<0.01)’, ‘Have three meals a day (p<0.01)’, ‘Have breakfast regularly (p<0.01)’, ‘Drink milk every day (p<0.001)’, ‘Have fruits every day (p<0.05)’, and ‘Apply nutrition knowledge to daily life (p<0.001)’ were significantly higher after-training. Among the nutrients intakes, the protein (p<0.05), vitamin C (p<0.01), and calcium (p<0.001) were significantly higher after-training. Nutrition education improved the lifestyle factors, dietary attitudes, food habits, and dietary nutrition intakes.

This study examined the effects of ‘Dietary education for children’s health UP’ (DECHUP) on the changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of nutrition and food safety in 5th grade elementary school students in Incheon. The DECHUP program was conducted from May to October 2018 and consisted of education and activities focusing on the children’s levels of understanding. Data were collected before, immediately after, and 6 weeks after DECHUP using the same method. All data were analyzed using SPSS ver 20.0. The level of knowledge and attitudes of the subjects to nutrition and food safety was significantly higher after than before DECHUP, but the attitude of boys did not show any significant difference after 6 weeks. Although there were no significant differences in the behavior for nutrition in the practice of the subjects, there were significant positive changes in the behavior of food safety. The higher the satisfaction of DECHUP, the more positive the change in knowledge, and the more positive the attitude and practice behaviors. Therefore, DECHUP has positive effects on the KAP of the subjects, and it will be helpful for elementary school students to form desirable eating habits if it can be carried out periodically and continuously.