kjhp Korean Journal of Health Promotion Korean J Health Promot 2234-2141 2093-5676 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 10.15384/kjhp.2014.14.1.17 kjhp-14-17 Original Article Relationship of Unbalanced Diet and Eating Behavior between School Age Children and Their Mothers in Wonju Area HongJinhee 1 OhSugyoung 2 ChungJayong 2 Nutrition Education Major, Kyung Hee University Graduate School of Education, Seoul, Korea Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University College of Human Ecology, Seoul, Korea ￭ Corresponding author：Jayong Chung, PhD Department of Food and Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyunghee-daero, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-701, Korea Tel: +82-2-961-0977, Fax: +82-2-961-0261 E-mail: jchung@khu.ac.kr 01 2014 20 01 2014 14 1 17 25 11122013 26022014 Copyright © 2014 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship of unbalanced diet habits and eating behaviors between school age children and their mothers.

 Methods

From the Wonju area of Gangwon-do, 232 children and their mothers were recruited for this study. General characteristics, degree of unbalanced diet, eating behaviors, factors associated with food preferences, food preferences, and food intake frequencies were obtained through a questionnaire.

 Results

The degree of unbalanced diet habits were significantly correlated between school age children and their mothers. Children's eating behaviors were also highly affected by their mother's eating behaviors. Especially, the frequency of eating breakfast showed a significant correlation between children and mothers. Among the factors associated with food preferences, family eating habits, appetite, and emotions showed significant associations between girls and mothers. As for food preferences, preference for meat in children was not significantly associated with that in their mothers, whereas preference for perilla oil and butter was significantly associated with preference in their mothers. The relationship of food preferences between children and mothers differed according to the sex of the children. Further, the intake frequencies for most foods were highly correlated between children and mothers.

 Conclusions

Our study showed that the unbalanced diet habits and eating behaviors of mothers can affect those in their children. Moreover, the correlations of food preferences between children and their mothers were different depending on the sex of the children. Our data suggest that educating mothers about their diet and eating behaviors could improve the eating practices of their children.

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General characteristics of childrena

Variables Total (n=232) Boys (n=118) Girls (n=114)
Height, cm 153.0±7.4 153.4±7.9 152.6±6.8
Weight, kg 43.3±8.9 45.1±9.6 41.4±7.5
Number of brothers and/or sisters
0 30 (13.0) 14 (12.1) 16 (14.0)
1 154 (67) 80 (69.0) 74 (64.9)
2 35 (15.2) 16 (13.8) 19 (16.7)
3 or more 11 (4.8) 6 (5.2) 5 (4.4)

Values are presented as Mean±SD or N (%) unless otherwise indicated.

General characteristics of mothers

Variables N (%)
Age, y  
 < 30 1 (0.4)
 30–35 11 (4.9)
 36–40 88 (38.9)
 41–45 101 (44.7)
 ≥46 25 (11.1)
Education
 Elementary or middle school 11 (4.9)
 High school 96 (42.9)
 College/university 110 (49.1)
 Graduate school 7 (3.1)
Occupation
 Full time job 132 (58.7)
 Part time job 24 (10.7)
 No (housewife) 69 (30.7)
Children's age when started to work  
 Pre-school children 95 (44.0)
 Elementary lower grades 62 (26.4)
 Elementary higher grades 68 (29.5)
Monthly food expenses, 10,000 Korean Won
 ≤30 30 (13.3)
 31–40 57 (25.3)
 41–50 56 (24.9)
 ≥51 70 (31.1)
Others 12 (5.3)

Unbalanced diet and eating behaviors of children and their mothersa

  Children Mother
Total Boys Girls Mother
Unbalanced diet        
 Do you tend to eat only what you want?b 2.5±1.1 2.4±1.1 2.7±1.1 2.0±0.8
 Do you often hear from others that you are a ‘picky eater'?b 2.1±1.0 2.1±1.0 2.2±1.0 1.8±0.8
 Do you often refuse to eat healthy foods if you don't like to? 2.5±1.1 2.4±1.1 2.6±1.1 2.6±1.1
Eating behavior        
 Do you eat three meals a day?b 4.2±1.0 4.3±1.0 4.1±1.1 3.9±2.2
 Do you eat at regular times?c 3.8±1.0 3.9±1.0 3.6±0.9 3.8±0.9
 Do you eat slowly?b 3.8±1.0 3.9±1.0 3.7±2.0 3.5±0.9
 Do you eat snacks late at night? 2.3±1.0 2.3±0.9 2.4±2.2 2.3±0.9
 Do you prefer snacks to meals?b 2.5±1.1 2.4±1.2 2.6±2.0 2.0±0.8
How many times do you eat breakfast per week? 4.5±1.8 4.6±1.7 4.3±1.9 4.4±1.9
How many times do you eat snacks per day?b 1.1±1.0 1.1±1.0 1.1±0.9 0.8±0.9

Estimated by 5-point scale (5; strongly agree, 1; strongly disagree) except for the frequencies of eating breakfast and eating snacks (times/week), Values are presented as Mean±SD.

Significantly different between children (total) and mother assessed by Student's t-test.

Significantly different between boys and girls assessed by Student's t-test.

Relationships of unbalanced diet and eating behavior between children and their mothersa

  Total Boys Girls
r P r P r P
Unbalanced diet            
 Do you tend to eat only what you want? 0.14 0.040 0.22 0.017 0.03 0.725
 Do you often hear from others that you are a “picky eater?” 0.04 0.546 0.08 0.371 –0.03 0.773
 Do you often refuse to eat healthy foods if you don't like to? –0.04 0.550 –0.07 0.463 –0.02 0.820
Eating behavior
 Do you eat three meals a day? 0.22 <0.001 0.28 <0.003 0.16 0.085
 Do you eat at regular times? 0.31 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 0.27 <0.004
 Do you eat slowly? 0.18 0.008 0.21 0.021 0.19 0.051
 Do you eat snacks late at night? 0.28 <0.001 0.22 0.019 0.34 <0.001
 Do you prefer snacks to meals? 0.19 <0.006 0.27 <0.003 0.13 0.172
How many times do you eat breakfast per week? 0.33 <0.001 0.25 0.009 0.41 <0.001
How many times do you eat snacks per day? 0.18 0.010 0.15 0.106 0.17 0.069

Assessed by Spearman's rank order correlation analysis.

Relationships of factors associated with preferred foods between children and their mothersa

  Total Boys Girls
r P r P r P
Cooking method 0.06 0.397 0.03 0.761 0.08 0.403
Color 0.08 0.230 0.06 0.557 0.10 0.277
Flavor 0.09 0.167 0.02 0.863 0.14 0.132
Texture 0.14 0.036 0.25 0.008 0.04 0.708
Unfamiliarity 0.08 0.259 0.02 0.865 0.13 0.185
Family eating habit 0.17 0.009 0.11 0.231 0.25 0.010
Appetite 0.14 0.034 –0.02 0.872 0.32 <0.001
Emotions, allergy 0.13 0.045 0.06 0.521 0.21 0.028

Assessed by Spearman's rank order correlation analysis.

Relationships of food preferences between children and their mothersa

  Total Boys Girls
r P r P r P
Cereal and basic food
 Rice 0.05 0.491 0.04 0.676 0.04 0.662
 Barley rice 0.18 0.008 0.31 <0.001 0.03 0.729
 Noodle 0.10 0.144 0.12 0.208 0.06 0.513
 Potato 0.18 0.009 0.26 0.006 0.13 0.173
 Sweet potato 0.18 0.006 0.20 0.034 0.19 0.045
 Rice cake 0.13 0.047 0.25 0.009 0.04 0.678
 Corn 0.17 <0.010 0.21 0.023 0.14 0.151
 Cookie 0.24 <0.001 0.17 0.071 0.31 <0.001
 Bread 0.19 0.006 0.15 0.115 0.22 0.021
Meat, egg and fish
 Fish 0.09 0.184 0.02 0.795 0.15 0.134
 Egg 0.15 0.029 0.18 0.066 0.10 0.303
 Beef 0.20 <0.003 0.12 0.197 0.27 0.006
 Pork 0.22 <0.001 0.15 0.125 0.28 <0.004
 Chicken 0.15 0.024 0.15 0.122 0.20 0.036
 Milk products            
 Milk 0.09 0.191 0.15 0.125 0.05 0.632
 Cheese 0.17 0.013 0.23 0.014 0.10 0.292
 Soy milk 0.11 0.113 0.06 0.506 0.16 0.104
 Yogurt 0.04 0.559 0.05 0.630 0.03 0.728
Vegetables and fruits
 Carrot 0.11 0.100 0.12 0.211 0.10 0.282
 Bean 0.10 0.148 0.21 0.028 0.02 0.832
 Mushroom 0.14 0.032 0.10 0.289 0.20 0.042
 Spinach –0.02 0.811 –0.01 0.947 –0.03 0.756
 Tomato 0.13 0.047 0.14 0.148 0.13 0.196
 Onion 0.10 0.130 0.12 0.191 0.08 0.425
 Cucumber 0.08 0.231 0.12 0.227 0.04 0.650
 Apple 0.14 0.045 0.23 0.015 –0.01 0.886
 Water melon 0.14 0.038 0.23 0.015 0.07 0.469
 Pear 0.16 0.017 0.24 0.010 0.07 0.445
 Peach 0.19 <0.005 0.22 0.021 0.13 0.189
 Grape 0.20 <0.001 0.21 0.029 0.17 0.077
Cooking oil (natural) and dessert
 Sesame oil 0.10 0.142 0.11 0.237 0.08 0.414
 Perilla oil 0.22 <0.001 0.27 <0.004 0.18 0.067
 Soybean oil 0.06 0.381 0.08 0.411 0.05 0.636
 Butter 0.17 0.011 0.28 <0.003 0.06 0.563
 Soda 0.09 0.163 0.06 0.507 0.11 0.275
 Ice cream 0.06 0.383 0.21 0.030 –0.11 0.273

Assessed by Spearman's rank order correlation analysis.

Relationships of food intake frequencies between children and their mothersa

  Total Boys Girls
r P r P r P
Rice 0.26 <0.001 0.26 <0.001 0.26 0.007
Barley rice 0.30 <0.001 0.31 <0.001 0.28 0.003
Instant noodle 0.27 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 0.18 0.069
Noodle 0.25 <0.001 0.32 <0.001 0.18 0.063
Bread 0.21 <0.002 0.18 0.062 0.22 0.021
Snack 0.22 <0.001 0.16 0.096 0.30 0.002
Tofu 0.19 <0.005 0.09 0.351 0.30 0.002
Bean 0.22 <0.001 0.22 0.022 0.23 0.016
Potato 0.22 <0.001 0.37 <0.001 0.02 0.800
Sweet potato 0.26 <0.001 0.23 0.015 0.30 0.002
Beef 0.26 <0.001 0.24 0.013 0.28 0.008
Chicken 0.36 <0.001 0.39 <0.001 0.34 <0.001
Pork 0.38 <0.001 0.38 <0.001 0.37 <0.001
Egg 0.28 <0.001 0.26 <0.008 0.30 0.004
Ham 0.19 <0.011 0.09 0.328 0.28 0.101
Mackerel 0.38 <0.001 0.40 <0.001 0.40 <0.001
Tuna 0.38 <0.001 0.37 <0.001 0.41 <0.001
Croaker 0.27 <0.001 0.30 <0.002 0.23 0.020
Pollack 0.15 0.024 0.27 <0.005 0.03 0.782
Anchovy 0.35 <0.001 0.43 <0.001 0.27 0.004
Fish cake 0.28 <0.001 0.32 <0.001 0.23 0.015
Squid 0.22 <0.001 0.29 <0.002 0.14 0.153
Clam 0.24 <0.001 0.34 <0.001 0.15 0.128
Salted fish 0.19 <0.004 0.18 0.063 0.20 0.034
Chinese cabbage 0.20 <0.003 0.19 0.048 0.20 0.034
White radish 0.21 <0.002 0.26 0.006 0.15 0.120
Radish tops 0.21 <0.002 0.19 0.045 0.21 0.031
Bean sprouts 0.29 <0.001 0.29 0.002 0.28 0.003
Spinach 0.29 <0.001 0.31 0.001 0.26 0.006
Cucumber 0.17 0.015 0.16 0.093 0.16 0.993
Chili 0.33 <0.001 0.40 <0.001 0.25 0.001
Carrot 0.17 0.010 0.24 0.058 0.08 0.390
Pumpkin 0.17 0.011 0.24 0.013 0.11 0.262
Cabbage 0.03 0.589 0.06 0.539 –0.01 0.991
Tomato 0.32 <0.001 0.37 <0.001 0.24 0.010
Mushroom 0.31 <0.001 0.44 <0.001 0.15 0.126
Sea mustard 0.26 <0.001 0.31 0.001 0.20 0.036
Laver 0.24 <0.001 0.22 0.023 0.26 0.006
Tangerine 0.23 <0.001 0.23 0.019 0.23 0.012
Persimmon 0.35 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 0.33 <0.001
Pear 0.24 <0.001 0.25 0.009 0.24 0.001
Water melon 0.34 <0.001 0.34 <0.001 0.34 <0.001
Grape 0.29 <0.001 0.28 0.003 0.30 <0.002
Peach 0.42 <0.001 0.38 <0.001 0.45 <0.001
Apple 0.28 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 0.19 0.053
Banana 0.29 <0.001 0.27 0.005 0.32 <0.001
Orange 0.15 0.024 0.04 0.704 0.27 <0.004
Milk 0.24 <0.001 0.02 0.867 0.45 <0.001
Yogurt 0.25 <0.001 0.20 0.035 0.30 <0.001
Ice cream 0.22 <0.001 0.16 0.105 0.29 <0.002

Assessed by Spearman's rank order correlation analysis.