This study examined Korean employees’ meal structure characterized by mealtime, meal places, and companions. The data from 19,692 time diaries, recorded by 9,846 employees aged 19-64 years for two days in the 2014 Korean Time Use Survey, were analyzed for working days and non-working days. Approximately two-thirds of Korean employees ate meals three times a day on both working and non-working days. The breakfast and lunch-times on working days were distributed within two hours, but the dinner time on working days and all three meals on non-working days were dispersed across a three-hour range. Male employees spent three minutes on meal preparation on working days, whereas females spent 30 minutes. On working days, 88% of breakfasts and 67% of dinners were eaten at home. For lunches, 46% were eaten at restaurants, and 42% were at workplaces. The breakfast on working days showed the highest percentage of eating alone (40%) and the dinner on non-working days appeared highest in the percentage of eating with families (69%). The characteristics of Korean employees’ meal structure appeared different on working days and non-working days. Such characteristics should be considered in the process of planning nutrition policies and programs for employees.

The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of patents related to dietary life of the elderly in Korea. Using Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service, patents registered between 2002 and 2013 were searched with the key words including 'elderly or the aged' and 'food, meal, or dietary life.' The search results showed 1,438 patents, and 500 patents meeting the research purpose were selected and analyzed. They were divided into two categories: 'patents on foods' and 'patents on products and services related to dietary life.' The former was further divided into four subgroups as follows: foods for health promotion, foods for disease prevention, foods for the people with difficulty in swallowing and masticating, and others. Also, the latter was divided into products or services. The results showed that patents on foods accounted for about 90%, of which the patents on foods for health promotion were ranked as the highest (40%). The number of patents on products and services related to dietary life was relatively small, indicating that the technology development has been focused on foods. Therefore, the technology for products and services related to dietary life should be actively developed as well as that for foods to improve the quality of life for the elderly in the future.