Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the diet diversity, food habit and nutrient intake of obese adults who were visiting the health promotion center. This study was accomplished with the 138 obese adults (men = 103, women = 35) aged over 20 years old whose BMI were above 25 kg/m2. Nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), the number of foods (Dietary Variety Score, DVS), and food group consumed (Dietary Diversity Score, DDS) by using the data from the three days record were analyzed and the food habit and lifestyle were assessed by self reporting questionnaire. The average energy intake of men was 2150.2 kcal which was significantly higher than that of women (p < 0.05). The intake ratio of carbohydrate, protein and fat over total energy was 54.8% : 19.3% : 25.8% in men, 59.5% : 17.8% : 22.6% in women, respectively. Frequency of the breakfast in a week above 4, 2~3 time and under one time was 75.7%, 10.7% and 9.7% in men, 77.1%, 5.7% and 14.3% in women respectively. Frequency of eating between meals in a day under one time was 73.8% in men, 57.1% in women (p < 0.05). The average DDS and DVS was 3.63 +/-0.07 and 14.10 +/-3.45, respectively which was significantly correlated with MAR (r = 0.40 in DDS, r = 0.64 in DVS, p < 0.01). The most frequent style of food pattern was DMGFV = 01101 in 35% of men, and DMGFV = 01111 in 37.1% of women. Our results show that dietary diversity and variety are useful parameters for evaluating nutrient intakes in obese adults. These findings suggest that nutritional education based on obese persons' eating behavior and eating diversity may be required to increase educational efficiency of weight control programs.

• Keywords: obesity; dietary variety; DDS; DVS; BMI; NAR