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Eating and Exercise Behaviors of University Students by Weight Change Status
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Seolhyang Baek, Eunjeong Kim
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Korean J Community Nutr 2009;14(4):374-382. Published online August 31, 2009
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 Abstract
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- Young adults are likely to start a new life style which may cause weight gain or obesity since leaving their parents for higher education or university. Whilst young people are slim in general, it is common to see them trying to manage their weight. Few studies have been carried out in Korea to support those changes in lifestyle that can result in weight gain in early adulthood. This study aims to identify prevalence of dieting as well as factors inducing weight gain among university students under unrestricted living conditions. A total of 99 university students were enrolled and asked to complete a questionnaire over a 3-day study period from June to September, 2008. T-test and chi-square-test were applied to compare each behavior between weight gainers and maintainers. Logistic regression was also used for further analysis. Half of the participants used 'eat less' and 'exercise' as a way of dieting, and weight gainers tried to control their weight significantly more than weight maintainers. Most participants were engaged in very little exercise and were more likely to watch TV and use a computer. The time of lunch was proven as the only factor to predict weight change in the participants. As a result of this study, an intervention to promote exercise with friends or as a group is required to makeup for the lack of exercise among young adults. Further studies are also necessary to investigate how each meal time a day relates to the amount of food eaten.
- [English]
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Analysis of Weight Maintenance Behavior among Female University Students
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Seolhyang Baek, Eunjeong Kim
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Korean J Community Nutr 2007;12(2):150-159. Published online April 30, 2007
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Abstract
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- Since the 1980's, despite the conclusion of a number of studies in Western countries focusing upon weight maintenance there has been no similar research in Korea which takes into account the contrasts of culture and eating habits between east and west. In order to identify eating, snacking and exercise behaviors, 24 female university students who have maintained weight for at least a year were enrolled for an 11 day study. Participants were required to sign into the program and complete the questionnaire, answering questions by concerning what they ate and did everyday. After excluding unanswered questions, data over 11 days were exported into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, then both ANOVA and Kendall's tau correlation were applied with SPSS. 75% of weight maintainers had normal BMI (18-23.5) in relation to Korean standard, and appeared to eat a main meal smaller than moderate in portion size. Only two days showed that amount of breakfast eaten negatively correlated with lunch (p < 0.05), while no correlations between amounts of lunch and dinner eaten over all study period. Compared with breakfast or lunch, dinner was usually larger in portion size, but some variables such as TV viewing, restaurant meals, number of people at dinner table seemed not correlated with amount of dinner eaten. In addition, the weight-maintainers reported they rarely consumed snacks or sweetened beverages. Unlike their western counterparts, few participants reported that they took part in regular exercise during the day, which may lead us to the conclusion that these young female weight maintainers seem to maintain their weight with eating behaviours such as 'eat small portion', 'avoid snacking' and 'avoid soft drinks' rather than doing regular exercise. The study did not include a control group, and was foreshortened due to technical difficulties so it may be necessary to repeat the study while considering these two points.
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KSCN
