We investigated coffee consumption in relation to the abdominal obesity as defined by waist circumference in Korean women aged 19~64 years, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012~2016. The participants to the study were classified according to 3-in-1 coffee consumption level (none-coffee, ≤1 time/day of 3-in-1 coffee, >1 time/day of 3-in-1 coffee) by a food frequency questionnaire. The analysis was conducted by the following age groups: <50 years and 50≤ years. The 3-in-1 coffee consumption group had significantly more smokers and more alcohol consumption frequency as compared to the none-coffee group. The energy intake from the participants in the 3-in-1 coffee consumption of ≤1 time/day of 3-in-1 coffee group, and >1 time/day of 3-in-1 coffee group were 131.2 kcal/day and 123.1 kcal/day. In the 50 years or over age group, >1 time/day of 3-in-1 coffee group was at a lower risk of abdominal obesity as defined by waist circumference, compared with the non-coffee group multivariable adjustment (OR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.25~0.77). Our findings suggest that the 3-in-1 coffee consumption may be related to abdominal obesity as defined by waist circumference in Korean females aged 50 years or over.

The objective of the this study was to identify the potential relationship between eating breakfast together as a family and the nutritional status among Korean adolescents based on the 2013~2015 Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data. This study investigated 1,300 adolescents ranging in agee from twelve to eighteen years-old. In this study, according to their eating breakfast together as a family or skipping breakfast, we classified the subjects into the eating breakfast together as a family (EBF group) (male=379, female=295), eating breakfast alone (EBA group) (male=177, female=169) and skipping breakfast (SB group) (male=152, female=128). Both male and female, age in the EBF group was lower than those of the EBA and SB group (p<0.0001, respectively). In the male, the EBF group exhibited significantly higher fiber (p=0.0168) and potassium density (p=0.0065) and lower beverage intake (% energy) (p=0.0040) than the EBA and SB groups. No difference was observed the proportion of subjects who practiced a healthy diet between three groups, however, the EBF and EBA groups had a smaller proportion of subjects who were in a condition of hypo-nutrition compared to the SB group (p<0.0001, respectively). The present findings suggest that the practice of eating breakfast together as a family in adolescents may bean important consideration in relation to micro-nutrient intake status.

Stress has been associated with poor eating behavior and diet quality. Yet, the relationship between nutrient and food intake and perceived stress in Korean female adults has not been validated. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between nutrient and food intake and perceived stress in Korean female adults. This is a cross-sectional study based on the 2014-2015 Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data. This study investigated 2,010 female adults age 19~64. In this study, according to subjects' perceived stress, we classified subjects into very low-stress recognition group (VLSRG) (n=211), low-stress recognition group (VSRG) (n=1,223), high-stress recognition group (HSRG) (n=488) and very high-stress recognition group (VHSRG) (n=88). Daily nutrients and food group intake, food groups consumed (Dietary Diversity Score, DDS) were analyzed using data from the 24-recall method. The VHSRG had a larger proportion of subjects that were younger (p<0.0001), single (p<0.0001) and smokers (p<0.0001) compared to the VLSRG. Energy and food intake did not differ between the four groups. Percentage of subjects with protein (p=0.0322), vitamin A (p=0.0364) and vitamin C (p=0.0115) intake lower than the EAR (estimated average requirement) in the VHSRG were significantly lowest in the four groups. Also, food intake percentage from fruits and seaweed groups in the VHSRG were lower than other groups (p=0.0034, p=0.0015). DDS in the VHSRG (3.87) was significantly lowest in the four groups (p=0.0022). Results suggest that perceived stress in Korean female adults may by significant to consider in nutritional education programs.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction with school meal service and the food preference in elementary school students who are in their growth period. A total of 484 students (242 boys) participated and completed a questionnaire survey. The results indicated that the merit of school meals was the highest in ‘balanced diet’. 'Food hygiene' and 'delicious food' were the most important factors in school meals. Most of the students wanted ‘balance between eastern and western foods’ and ‘new dishes’ for the menu of school meals. For the distribution of meals, ‘various kinds of side dishes’ and ‘warmth of dishes’ were mainly required. The main problems of the current environment of school meals were ‘long waiting time’ and ‘noise of the cafeteria’. In satisfaction with the school meal service, the highest satisfactory factor was 'staffs’ cleanliness', following 'arrangement of furniture in cafeteria' and 'nutrition information-providing'; whereas, the lowest factor was 'staffs’ kindness'. In the preference of foods, students preferred ‘white rice’; whereas they did not like ‘bean rice’; and ‘fried rice' was preferred. In side dishes with meat and fish, most of the meats including ‘Tangsuyuk’ and ‘Bulgogi’ were preferred. For fish, ‘fried hairtail’ was preferred; whereas, ‘fried Spanish mackerel’ was not. In case of kimchi, ‘Chinese cabbage kimchi’ and ‘cubed radish kimchi’ were especially preferred. Considering these results, intensive improvement is required to increase school meal satisfaction by understanding the students' needs. An effort to allow the students’ preferences to be reflected in the menu is also needed

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between frequency of coffee consumption, metabolic biomarkers, and nutrition intake in adult participants in the combined 2007~2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Subjects (2,095 males and 3,297 females) were classified according to sex and frequency of coffee consumption (≤1 time/month, ≥2 times/month and ≤6 times/week, 1 time/day, 2 times/day, 3 times/day) using food frequency questionnaires. Nutrition intake was analyzed using 24 h recall data. The 3 times/day coffee consumption group had a significantly higher age, and frequency of smokers and drinkers compared to the ≤1 time/month coffee consumption group in both male and female participants. Males in the 3 times/day coffee consumption group had a significantly lower HDL-cholesterol level, but females had a higher waist circumference compared with the ≤1 time/month coffee consumption group. Males in the 3 times/day coffee consumption group had a significantly lower nutrient density of fiber, vitamin B2, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorus compared with the ≤1 time/month coffee intake group. Females in the 3 times/day coffee consumption group had a significantly higher nutrient density of fat and niacin, but lower nutrient density of carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, and iron compared with the ≤1 time/month coffee intake group. In males, the frequency of coffee consumption was not associated with the levels of metabolic biomarkers. In females, the frequency of coffee consumption was positively associated with diastolic blood pressure after adjustments for multiple confounding factors, including age, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and energy intake. Coffee consumption was associated with decreased diastolic blood pressure in females. These findings suggest the importance of an awareness of the association between coffee consumption and metabolic risk.

Increasing sugar intake of population has become a nutritional issue in Korea. Sweet taste perception may be related to behaviors such as eating sweet food including high sugars and total sugar intake. This study aimed to evaluate objective and subjective sweet taste perception and the association among objective sweet taste perception, dietary behaviors related to eating sweet snack food including high sugar, and total sugar intake from the snacks. Participants were 261 healthy female college students (mean age: 21.0±1.6 years), who were divided into three subgroups based on oral sweet taste evaluation using a sweet taste assessment tool provided by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: sweet-seeker group (n=139), medium sweet-seeker group (n=54), and unsweet-seeker group (n=68). There was no significant difference in weight and body mass index (BMI) among the three groups; however, the sweet-seeker group had significantly higher sweet taste preference than that of the other groups. Though more people in the sweet-seeker group thought they tended to eat sweet foods than the medium sweet-seeker and unsweet-seeker groups, over half of the sweet-seekers did not think they tended to eat sweet foods. The sweet-seeker group was more likely to eat sweet snacks such as breads, chocolate products, sugar-sweetened milk, and so on than the unsweet-seeker group. Total sugar intake from the selected sweet snacks was 44.4 g for the sweet-seeker group, 34.4 g for the medium sweet-seeker group, and 28.0 g for the unsweet-seeker group with a significant difference. These results indicated the absence of relationship between objective sweet taste perception and the obesity index; however, significant associations were detected among objective sweet taste perception, eating sweet snacks and total sugar intake from the snacks. We also found high disagreement between objective and subjective sweet taste perception of the subjects. The present study provided the novel insight that measuring objective sweet taste perception may be useful for assessing the risk of high sugar consumption and undesirable dietary behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sodium-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutritional knowledge in university students according to the practice of dietary guidelines for Koreans established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea. Based on the total practice score related to the dietary guidelines (PDG), we classified subjects into a “low practice of the dietary guidelines (LPDG)” group (n=94, male=43, female=51) (total score of PDG ≤13) and a “high practice of the dietary guidelines (HPDG)” group (n=56, male=32, female=24) (total score of PDG >13). Subjects were asked about general characteristics, lifestyle, salt-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutritional knowledge using a questionnaire. The LPDG group had more subjects who were breakfast skippers (p<0.001) compared to the HPDG group. The LPDG group (31.26) had a significantly lower score in terms of salt-related dietary attitudes compared to the HPDG group (33.77) (p=0.0042). The score for salt-related dietary attitudes was significantly higher in the HPDG (32.52) group than in the LPDG (29.91) group (p=0.0041). There was no significant difference in the total score for salt-related nutrition knowledge between the groups. The correlation analysis indicated that the dietary guidelines practice score had a positive correlation with the salt-related dietary attitude score (r=0.3593, p<0.0001) and the dietary attitude score (r=0.3443, p<0.0001) after adjustments for sex. These results show that the degree of adherence to the dietary guidelines for adults may be related to sodium-related dietary attitudes, behaviors, and nutrition knowledge.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate dietary intake according to the risk of coronary heart disease (less than 10% = low-risk group; 10~20% = middle-risk group) based on Framingham risk score (FRS), on 122 male adult subjects. The body weight and body mass index were not significantly different between the groups, while height of the low-risk group was shown to be significantly high compared to that of the middle-risk group. The daily energy intake was shown to be significantly high in the low-risk group with 1,910.88 kcal, compared to 1,606.63 kcal of the middle-risk group. As a result of analyzing nutrient intake per 1,000 kcal of energy, while the low-risk group had significantly high intake of animal protein, fat, and animal fat compared to the middle-risk group, the intake of plant protein, carbohydrate, and plant iron was found to be significantly low. The daily food intake was shown to be significantly high in the low-risk group (1,445.16 g), compared to the middle-risk group (1,075.12 g). The low-risk group was found to have significantly high intake of sugars, eggs, and beverages compared to the middle-risk group, while mushrooms intake was significantly high in the middle-risk group. Dietary variety score (DVS) was significantly high in the low-risk group with 26.42, compared to 22.66 of the middle-risk group. Dietary diversity score (DDS) was indicated to be significantly high in the low-risk group with 3.70, compared to 3.27 of the middle-risk group. The low-risk group was indicated to have significantly high score in DDS of dairy products and fruit group, compared to the middle-risk group. In the correlation between diversity index of food intake (DVS and DDS) and FRS, DDS was shown to have significantly negatively correlation with FRS after adjusting for confounding factors. To sum up these results, the adult males with low-risk of coronary heart disease had more various consumptions of fruits and milk, compared to the subjects with the middle-risk. The proportion of consuming major food groups such as cereals, meat group, milk, fruits, and vegetables more than a fixed quantity was indicated to be high. Accordingly, dietary habit for intake of various food seems to be necessary, to prevent coronary heart disease.