Research on nutritional knowledge, preference and intake of Korean traditional foods and fast foods by middle school students in Incheon, Korea

Abstract

This study was performed to gain knowledge on the recognition over the korean foods and fast foods, nutrient knowledge, preference and eating habits among middle school students. This study was conducted over 287 middle school students (155 boys, 132 girls) in Incheon, Korea. The research on the recognition of Korean foods and fast foods, 63.8% of the students recognize the Korean foods as the food with original historic background and cultural characteristics. However 49.5% of the students have recognized the fast food as the promptly served foods with less cooking. Regarding the nutritional knowledge on korean foods and fast foods, Korean food was 7.03 and fast food was 7.00 out of 10 in scale and the male students showed higher rate of recognition but not significantly different. The frequency and preference for the Korean foods were higher with static relevance among middle school students (p<.001). Concerning the level of the nutritional knowledge, students had less knowledge and more frequencies of eating fast foods with statistical significance (p<.05). This study can be used to build the base information for the nutrient education to establish proper eating habits and to make students choose nutritious and balanced foods.