Nutritional Knowledge and Dietary Behavior of the 6th Grade Elementary School Students in Daejeon Area by Gender and Skipping Breakfast

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate nutritional knowledge related to breakfast and dietary behavior of elementary school students by gender and skipping breakfast. The subjects of this study were the 6th grade elementary school students (Total 237; 119 males and 118 females) in Daejeon. The group who ate breakfast six to seven times per week was 58.6%; The group who ate breakfast zero to five times per week was 41.4%. Most of subjects' families (84.4%) were 'nuclear family' and 63.8% of mothers held jobs. There was a significant difference between family income and skipping breakfast. As for the type of breakfast, 79.0% of the male students and 81.4% of female students answered 'cooked rice' and the reasons for skipping breakfast were 'no appetite' followed by 'not enough time', 'over sleeping'. In the eating breakfast group, frequency of having breakfast with family was higher compared to the skipping breakfast group. Total scores of nutritional knowledge related to breakfast in the female students were significantly higher than those of the male students. Also significant differences were found on such questions as 'the relation between eating breakfast and body weight control' and 'importance of breakfast' by skipping breakfast. The dietary behavior scores of the group who ate breakfast were higher than those of the group who skipped breakfast. Therefore, a need exists to develop and distribute a simple breakfast menu that contains Korean-style food and can be more appetizing and appealing to Korean elementary school students. Also it is necessary to develop a systemic awareness program that emphasize the importance of breakfast and the harmfulness of skipping breakfast.