KOREASCHOLAR

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among snacking behaviors and depression in middle school students. A survey was conducted on 777 middle school students (491 boys and 286 girls). Using a self-reporting method, the participants took 20 minutes to complete the questionnaires. Our data revealed that the height and weight of boys were 172.66 cm and 63.48 kg, respectively, whereas those of girls were 159.86 cm and 51.62 kg, respectively. Sleep durations of boys and girls were 6.44 and 6.41 hours, respectively. Boys ate more rice cake than girls, whereas girls ate more biscuits than boys. The average B.D.I (Beck Depression inventory) scores for boys and girls were 9.73 and 11.49, respectively. Degree of depression was significantly higher in girls compared to boys. We also observed significant correlations between depression and snacking (rice cake, biscuits, chocolate, and fried potato). This study may provide basic information on snacking behaviors and depression in middle school students, and the findings suggest that proper control of emotions is required to maintain desirable eating behaviors in middle school students.

• 김경희(목포대학교 식품영양학과) | Kyung-Hee Kim
• 조희숙(초당대학교 조리과학부) | Hee-Sook Cho Corresponding author