This study was conducted to compare differences in dietary habits and snack consumption behaviors according to level of job stress among 20- to 30-year-old office workers. Subjects were 205 office workers working in companies located in Seoul and the metropolitan area. Self-administered questionnaires written by the subjects were statistically analyzed by the SPSS 20.0 program. Subjects were classified into a high-risk job stress group (n=102, High-RSG) or low-risk job stress group (n=103, Low-RSG) by level of job stress. For dietary habits, the duration of meal time before suffering from job stress in High-RSG was significantly faster compared to Low-RSG. Appetite after suffering from job stress in High-RSG was significantly higher compared to Low-RSG. For snack consumption behaviors, the reason for snack intake was ‘job stress’ for 42.2% in High-RSG and ‘hunger’ for 31.1% in Low-RSG (p<0.05). Energy intake in the form of chocolates, castellacakesmuffins, and flavored milk during working hours was significantly higher in High-RSG compared to Low-RSG (p<0.05). Therefore, this study suggests that dietary guidelines to ameliorate job stress should be developed in order to manage and improve dietary habits caused by suffering from job stress among young office workers at companies.

This study was conducted to evaluate the risk of overweight and obesity in adolescents consuming snacks frequently from 2007~2009, Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The subjects (12~14 years: n=523; 15~18 years: n=614) were presented with food frequency questionnaires, and they were classified according to their gender and frequency of snack consumption. In the age group of 12~14 years, boys and girls (boys OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.52~2.39, girls OR: 12.45, 95% CI: 2.26~68.51) who consumed yogurt frequently had a higher risk of overweight and obesity at the highest quartile frequency compared with the lowest quartile after adjustments for multiple confounding factors, including age, physical activity, frequency of eating out and snack consumption, and energy intake. In the age group of 15~18 years, girls (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.34~2.99) consuming fried foods had a higher risk of overweight and obesity at the highest quartile frequency compared with the lowest quartile after adjustments for multiple confounding factors, including age, physical activity, frequency of eating out and snack consumption, and energy intake. Thus, we conclude that frequent consumption of yogurt and fried foods increases the risk of overweight and obesity in adolescents. These findings suggest that the risk of overweight and obesity is associated with the frequency of snack consumption.