The purpose of this study was to compare the awareness of dietary patterns and health of full-time and employed housewives. The investigation gathered information on general characteristics, dietary lifestyle, nutritional status, and health by questionnaire as well as anthropometric measurements. The subjects included housewives living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province (86 full-time and 127 working housewives) during November 2009 to January 2010. The average age, height, and weight of the housewives were 45.8±7.6 yr, 161.0±8.4 cm, and 55.7±6.3 kg, respectively. The average monthly income of the households was 3 million to 5 million won (31.4% full-time and 37.0% working housewives), and their average food expense was 200,000 to 500,000 won (46.5% full-time and 48.1% working housewives). More than 90% of the studied homes were nuclear families and the most common number of children was 2 to 3 (79.1% full-time and 76.4% working housewives). The ratio of employed housewives who ate regular meals was 35.4%, but that of the full-time housewives was 48.2% (p〈0.05). Of the working housewives, 7.1% never ate breakfast and the primary reason for skipping breakfast was 'busy in the morning' (61.1%). The type of food that the housewives preferred when eating out was Korean food, both for the full-time and employed housewives (76.0%). All the housewives overate calories and the full-time housewives ate more protein, fat, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and cholesterol than the employed housewives (p〈0.05). Both the full-time and employed housewives were more satisfied with supper than with other meals. About 30.6% of the full-time and 33.9% of the working housewives had no interest in health, but answered that regular exercise was very important for health (33.3% full-time and 39.7% working housewives). In conclusion, working housewives have poor dietary habits and nutrient intakes, thus substantial measures to improve these problems are urgently needed.