The purpose of this study was to determine every possible correlation between food habits
and body statures of primary school children, aged ten years old. This study was conducted
from July to October of 1975.
In July, prepared questionaires concerning life style, anthropometry, food preference, and
food behavior were distributed through school teachers to 425 children; 219 boys and 206
girls, in the 5th grade of three elementary schools in-the city of Seoul. ;Then, in October,
when subjects had been classified into underweight/obese by statistical analysis, mothers of
obese or underweight children were interviewed by the authors to determine weaning
history, daily food consumption of their children, and opinions of various snacks for children.
Analysis of results in terms of correlation coefficient, chisquare test and percentage
k calculations, are as follows:
1. Physical growth and development
Boys Girls
Height (cm) 134.85.74 134.45.97
Weight (kg) 30.04.27 29.55.16
Chestgirth (cm) 64.13.59 63.33.81
Arm circumference (cm) 18.31.61 18.21.70
Triceps skinfold thickness (mm) 10.95.13 12.74.86
Various indices of nutrition such as relative weight, relative chestgirth, R6hrer´s index,
Kaup index, Vervaeck index were determined.
2. Food habits
1) Food preference A varying number of foods were selected from 60 items were
accepted. It was found that the food which children liked best was fruit and snacks were
popular one. Lowest ranking among LIKED foods were from strongly flavored vegetables _
and organ meat. In general, girls had more food dislikes than did boys. Selected as liked
foods were fruits, rice noodle soup, biscuits, and peanuts. Disliked foods were liver, green
onions, onions, green pepper, mushrooms, oysters, shellfish, and pork. Items which children
never ate before were liver, mushrooms, fish cake, boiled rice mixed with sorghum, may-
onnaise, and fresh water firsh. Reasons which children gave for dislike were undesirable
flavor and odor.
2) Food behavior It was found that boys liked sweet and salty flavors more than did the girls who more often liked sour flavor. The majority of children enjoyed evening meals more than lunch and breakfast. A number of children skipped breakfast because of lack of appetite or lack of time before going to school. Snacks were the most popular food, especially among girls. Their snacking habits were formed by the encouragement of the mother, and the relieve boredom. Educational backgrounds of mothers and family economical levels of children were remarkable correlated with mothers´ attitudes to-,vard feeding of children. There were several interesting findings relating bode stature to some other responses; such as that the obese child has a small number of brothers, higher birth order, higher educated mothers and higher family cultural background. It was also discovered that food perference, except for fat and oil group foods was not related to body stature. Sweet taste was liked best and pepperly taste was mostly disliked. Sour taste was popular in the group of underweight. Underweight children were more finicky, disliked snacking, and didn´t get much attention from their mothers.
3) Correlation between body stature and nutrition during their infancy. The majority of children, both from obese and underweight, were breast fed as infant. Twenty five per cent of obese children and 17.4 per cent of underwight children started weaning at 16 months old. The most popular supplemental food of weaning was cereal gruel for the obese group, while boiled white rice and cereal gruel were most common for the underweight group. Highly significant relationships were found between stature of parents and their children.
In the obese group 47.8 per cent of fathers and 45.9 per cent of mothers were over-weight; however, none of the fathers and only one mother was found to be underweight. In daily food consumption patterns, meals consisting of ´bread or noodle were popular in the obese group but disliked by the underweight group. The study found clear contrast in that the obese group liked meat and fish while the underweight group liked fruits and vegetables, especially kimchee. The obese children desired to eat cereal foods, milk and milk products, and fat foods while the underweight group desired to eat fruits and vegetables. Frequency of snacks per day was much greater in the obese .=group. Foods which mothers believed to be good for the health were carrots, cucumbers, fruits, milk, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and breads, while sweet foods such as candies, drinks. chocolate were considered not good for the teeth. Watching television was not significantly related to statures of children. Most significant relationships were found beween frequencies of family guest meals/and eating-out, and children´s statures.
Nutriticnal problems which have been considered for the malnourished children in addition to those of children who have a tendency toward obesity, must be taken into consideration in the development of proper nutrition education through the channels of regular school teaching and teaching by parents in the homes.
Korean standards of anthropo nietric measurements for children should be revised; current measurements show much higher figures than present Korean standards.
|