P33 Assessment of Dietary Behaviors and Weight Status Among Adolescents from Multicultural Families and Non-Multicultural Families in Korea

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> As Korean adolescents in multicultural families (MF) might experience health disparities, assessing their specific nutritional health status is necessary to design effective and tailored nutrition education programs. <h3>Objectives</h3> This study was the first step to develop a nutrition education program for the Korean adolescent in MF. The aim of this study was to identify nutritional health problems of MF' adolescents through comparing dietary and lifestyle behaviors and weight status among Korean adolescents from MF and non-multicultural families (non-MF). <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> This study included 111,067 adolescents aged 12–18 years (MF = 1,751, non-MF = 109,316) from the 2017–2018 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Data on dietary and lifestyle behaviors were self-reported using a web-based questionnaire and included foods consumption, alcohol drinking, smoking, physical activity, weight control efforts, and perceived health status. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using the self-reported height and weight (kg/m²). Weight status was determined based on the 2017 Korean National Growth Chart: underweight (weight-for-age <5th percentiles), overweight (85th≤ BMI-for-age <95th percentiles), and obesity (BMI-for-age ≥95th percentiles). <h3>Results</h3> Using a multiple logistic regression after adjustment for sex, school level, residence, and household income, adolescents from MF showed higher odds ratios (ORs) for having underweight (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.29–1.99) and obesity (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.03–1.43) compared to those from non-MF. Adolescents from MF were less likely to intake fruit ≥5 times/week (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.76–0.96) compared to adolescents from non-MF. Boys in MF showed a lower OR for having vegetable ≥5 times/week (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.60–0.92) than boys in non-MF. Compared to non-MF' adolescents, the OR for engaging in physical activity ≥3 days/week was 0.83 (95% CI = 0.74–0.94) in MF' adolescents. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Korean adolescents in MF showed higher risks for having underweight and obesity as well as unhealthy dietary behaviors compared to those in non-MF. Our findings can be used to develop nutrition education programs for adolescents from MF.