This study examined dietary habits and mental health according to generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) and caffeine consumption in adolescents. The data were collected from the 18th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey with a sample of 51,850 students. The proportion of students in the GAD High-Risk · Caffeine consumption group (GHRCC) who consumed sweet drinks (p< .001), fast food (p< .001), and midnight meals (p< .001) every day was 15.6, 21.9, and 22.4%, respectively. These proportions were higher than those of students who consumed sweet drinks, fast food, and midnight meals 1-2 times a week, 3-4 times a week, or not at all. In addition, the proportions of GHRCC among students who responded “yes” to experiencing sadness and despair (p< .001), suicidal thoughts (p< .001), suicide plans (p< .001), suicide attempts (p< .001), and loneliness (p< .001) were higher than students who responded “no.” The GAD High-Risk group (GHR) had higher odds with the consumption of midnight meals (OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 2.10-2.99), caffeine consumption (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 2.21-2.74), and fast food (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.75-2.55) than GAD Low-Risk group. Based on the above results, the risk of GHR was higher among students who consumed midnight meals, caffeine, and fast food daily than those who did not.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between household economic changes by COVID-19 and dietary habits in Korean adolescents. The study analyzed data from the 17th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2021. A total of 54,848 middle and high school students, 28,401 males and 26,447 females, participated in this study. COVID-19 lead to deterioration of household economy in the lower level of household economic status (p<0.001). The deterioration of household economic status by COVID-19 was associated with dietary habits such as lower breakfast intake, and higher fast food, soda drinks, and sweet drinks consumption (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that deterioration of household economic status was significantly decreased in frequency of breakfast intake (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.67~0.80). The deterioration of household economic status by COVID-19 was also significantly associated with increased frequency of fast food (OR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.16~1.41), soda drinks (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.30~1.56) and sweet drinks (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.24~1.46) consumption (p<0.001). In conclusion, it was confirmed that the change in household economy caused by COVID-19 was associated with dietary habits in adolescents. As the household economy deteriorated, there was an increase in undesirable dietary habits including skipping breakfast and fast food consumption.

The purpose of study was to examine the factors influencing fast food consumption in Korean adolescents. The analysis was conducted using cross sectional study data from the 16th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in 2020. A total 54,948 middle and high school students participated in this study. The subjects in the analysis were 28,353 males and 26,595 females, 28,961 middle school and 25,987 high school students. In total, 56.6% Korean adolescents consumed fast food once or twice weekly and 25.4% consumed fast food more than three times weekly. Logistic regression analysis revealed that fast food consumption was significantly associated with dietary behavior such as lower breakfast intake (OR: 0.930, 95%CI: 0.891~0.970, p<0.001), higher soda drinks consumption (OR: 2.563, 95%CI: 2.452~2.678, p<0.001), and higher sweet drinks consumption (OR: 1.898, 95%CI: 1.818~1.982, p<0.001). For psychological and health behavior factors, fast food consumption was also significantly associated with higher perceived stress (OR: 1.239, 95%CI: 1.163-1.321, p<0.001), higher smoking (OR: 1.300, 95%CI: 1.164~1.453, p<0.001), higher drinking (OR: 1.193, 95%CI: 1.112~1.280, p<0.001), higher depression experience, higher loneliness experience, and lower subjective health, In conclusion, fast food consumption in Korean adolescents was associated with undesirable dietary habits and psychological and health behavior, suggesting that appropriate education programs are necessary to reduce such behavior.

This study was performed to investigate the eating habit, body image, and weight control behavior by BMI in Korean female high school students. Data on the 16, 574 subjects was obtained from the sixth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2010). Only 52.2% of the subjects had regular breakfast. The rate of skipping breakfast was higher in the underweight group than in the obese group, but the rate of skipping dinner was on the contrary to this. Underweight students had a higher intake frequency of fruits, fast food, instant noodle, and snacks than the obese groups. 3.5% of underweight students considered themselves to be overweight or obese. 53.4% of obese students considered themselves to be overweight. The experience of weight control increased according to BMI, but underweight students considered weight control as an effort to be slimmer. Meal restriction was used more frequently to control weight. The perceived stress level was higher in obese student, especially due to appearance. Therefore, an appropriate, integrated and personalized high school nutrition program should be established for proper body image perception and to develop the self-esteem of female high school students.