Journal List > Korean J Community Nutr > v.21(2) > 1038534

Pae: Dietary Habits and Perception Toward Food Additives according to the Frequency of Consumption of Convenience Food at Convenience Stores among University Students in Cheongju

Abstract

Objectives

This study was performed to examine the consumption patterns of convenience food at convenience stores, dietary habits, and perception as well as knowledge of food additives among university students.

Methods

Subjects were 352 university students in Cheongju, Korea, and data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. They were divided into three groups according to the frequency of consumption of convenience food at convenience stores: 79 rare (≤ 1 time/month), 89 moderate (2-4 times/month) and 184 frequent (≥ 2 times/week).

Results

More subjects from the frequent consumption group lived apart from parents (p<0.001) and possessed more pocket money (p<0.01). Frequent consumption group consumed noodles, Kimbab, and sandwich & burger significantly more often (p<0.001, respectively) than others. In addition, frequent consumption of convenience foods at convenience stores was associated with frequent breakfast skipping (p<0.05), irregular meal time (p<0.01), snacking (p<0.05), and eating late night meal (p<0.001). More from the rare consumption group had heard about food additives previously compared to the frequent consumption group (79.7% vs. 63.6%, p<0.01). Frequent consumption group showed significantly higher score than did the rare consumption group for the following questions: monosodium glutamate is harmful to your health (p<0.05), food additives are necessary for food manufacturing (p<0.005), food additives need to be labeled on products (p<0.05), there is no food additive at all if labeled as no preservatives, no coloring, and no added sugar (p<0.05). There was a significant difference in degrees of choosing products with less food additives depending on the consumption pattern.

Conclusions

Our results provided a better understanding of the factors associated with frequent consumption of convenience foods at convenience stores among university students and will be useful to develop a nutrition education program for those who are more prone to consume convenience foods.

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General characteristics of the subjects by self-reported frequency of convenience food consumption at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i001

1) N (%)

2) Body mass index

*: p<0.05, **: p<0.01, ***: p<0.001 by chi-square test

Table 2

Consumption pattern of subjects by self-reported frequency of convenience food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i002

1) Except for the subjects who never purchase instant foods from convenience stores

2) N (%)

Table 3

Frequency score of convenience food consumptions at convenience stores1)

kjcn-21-140-i003

1) 7: daily, 6: 6 times per week, 4.5: 4~5 times per week, 2.5: 2~3 times per week, 1: once per week, 0.625: 2~3 times per month, 0: never (mostly not)

2) Mean±SD

abc: Values with different superscripts within each row are significantly different at p=0.05 by Duncan's multiple range test.

**: p<0.01, ***: p<0.001 by ANOVA

Table 4

Dietary habits of the subjects by self-reported frequency of convenience food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i004

1) N (%)

*: p<0.05, **: p<0.01, ***: p<0.001 by chi-square test

Table 5

Recognition of subjects regarding food additives by self-reported frequency of convenience food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i005

1) N (%)

2) Except for the subjects who never heard of food additives

*: p<0.05, **: p<0.01 by chi-square test

Table 6

Perception of subjects regarding food additives by self-reported frequency of instant food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i006

1) 5-point Likert scale was used from 1 (consume very little) to 5 (consume too much)

2) Mean±SD

3) 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)

4) 5-point Likert scale from 1 (do not know at all) to 5 (know very well)

ab: Values with different superscripts within each row are significantly different at p=0.05 by Duncan's multiple range test.

*: p<0.05, **: p<0.01 by ANOVA

Table 7

Knowledge of the subjects regarding food additives by self-reported frequency of instant food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i007

1) Score 1 for correct answer, score 0 for wrong answer or I don't know, Mean±SD

Table 8

Information needs of the subjects by self-reported frequency of convenience food consumptions at convenience stores

kjcn-21-140-i008

1) N (%)

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the research grant of the Chungbuk National University in 2014

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Munkyong Pae
https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2928-9958

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