This study investigated the nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, and food intake frequency according to hospitalization after breast cancer surgery and experience of breast cancer among female adults residing in the Bucheon area. Subjects were 52 female breast cancer survivors 27 in the hospitalization group (HG) and 25 in the non-hospitalization group (non-HG)] and 52 controls. Data included the results of self-administered questionnaires, as well as anthropometric data and blood biochemical values of breast cancer survivors collected from electronic medical records. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0 program. Nutrition knowledge and dietary habits revealed no significant differences between HG and non-HG, but intake frequency of root and tuber crops and kimchi was significantly higher in the HG group than the non-HG group (p<0.05). According to experience of breast cancer, total scores of nutrition knowledge among survivors (8.2) were significantly higher than those of the control group (6.3) (p<0.001). Fish and shellfish and fruit intake frequencies were significantly higher in the survivors group, whereas intake frequency of fast food, convenience food, and alcohol was significantly lower compared to the control group. Overall, these findings indicate it is necessary to develop and spread nutrition education guidelines to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of breast cancer.

In this study, we compared diet related attributes such as food taste preference, food consumption frequency and nutrition intake between elderly residents in their 80’s of areas in Jeollanam-do that are well known for longevity and those of a part of Seoul. Structured in-depth interviews were conducted by trained interviewers on 125 consented subjects (67 Jeonnam and 58 Seoul). Differences of groups were tested using Chi-square tests for nominal or ordinal data and t-tests and ANOVA tests for ratio data. The elderly from Jeonnam tended to sleep longer, express emotion more freely, and interact with others more often than those from Seoul. The elderly tended to prefer sweet or salty tastes, which might be highly related to serious health problems. The most frequently consumed foods were napa cabbage kimchi (2.19 times/day) and multigrain rice (1.99 times/day). Elderly from Jeonnam tended to consume garlic, milk, beans and roasted barley/corn teas less often; whereas, they consumed porridge, dried radish greens, potato, fermented fish, dried fish, pork rib, pork belly, soybean paste soup, soybean paste/Ssamjang, other kimchis, pickled vegetables, snacks, cookies, and green/black teas more often than elderly residents from Seoul. Differences in nutrition intake between the regions were greater than differences between the perceived levels of household economic status. NAR and INQ for folate were lower among elderly from Jeonnam than those from Seoul, while those for protein, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6 were higher. The study results indicated that elderly from Jeonnam engaged in a more diverse diet than the elderly from Seoul.

To study the importance of family meals in adolescents, 251 middle school students were surveyed through a questionnaire on their family meal patterns, dietary behaviors, food intake, and life satisfaction. The family meals were defined as "meals with all family members living together" by 62.2% of the students. For the frequency of family meals, 42.2% of the students replied having family meals "More than once a day". A common reason for the difficulty in having a family meal was a "lack of time" (73.3% of the students). Students tended to respond that they would be most fond in having meals with entire family members with traditional Korean food. Having more frequent family meals was found to benefit both individual and familial dietary behavior. In terms of food intake according to the frequency of family meals, the group having frequent family meals consumed significantly more rice, tofu, legumes, meats, fishes, eggs, green vegetables, seaweeds, fruits, milk, and milk products. This indicates that students can achieve a balanced diet through family meals. In terms of emotional status, the group having more frequent family meals showed a higher satisfaction with their daily life, health, nutritional status, and care from their relatives. In terms of personal mental status, the group having more frequent family meals was also found to be more effective at controlling undesirable emotions such as loneliness, indignation, and lethargy. As a result of this study, students in the group having more frequent family meals were found to have a positive dietary behavior, a balanced nutrition, a higher life satisfaction, and a more stable mental status. This result is useful as nutritional and educational information in schools to impress upon the public the importance of family meals for adolescents.

The consumption of a wide variety of food groups is considered one of the key components of nutritional adequacy. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Koreans includes the consumption of a variety of foods from diverse food groups as a component of a normal diet. A survey was conducted to evaluate the relationship between the dietary diversity of food groups and nutrient intake in elderly patients (age 65 and above) at a rural area in Korea (Inje). 296 subjects (111 male and 185 female) were probed in a 3 day 24-recall dietary survey. Subjects were grouped according to food group intake frequency, based on six food groups (grain, meat/fish/legume/egg, vegetable, fat/oil, dairy, fruit). Nutritional quality was evaluated according to the numbers of nutrients under EAR (Estimated Average Requirements), and MAR (mean adequacy ratios). The frequency of elderly subjects consuming a meat/fish/legumes/egg food group less than once per day was 29.4%. The frequency of elderly subjects consuming fat/oil food group less than once per day was 65.8%. The percentage of subjects who did not eat dairy food was 88.8%, and that of subjects who did not eat fruit was 57.5%. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to develop models relating nutritional quality to possible food group intake frequency factors. Using the number of nutrients under EAR as a dependent variable, the meat/fish/legume/egg food group intake frequency explained 9.9% of variance, followed by the grain group, fat/oil group, dairy group, and vegetable and fruit group (Model R2=0.260). For mean nutrient adequacy ratio as a dependent variable, the model R2 was 0.326. The results of this study suggest that a highly varied diet in elderly might be associated with better nutritional quality, as assessed by nutrient intake. Accordingly, dietary guidelines should take into consideration nutritional characteristics in order to improve intake from all major food groups and to provide a variety of foods in the diet.