Sugar Reduction Perception and Sugary Food Intake among High School Students in Incheon

Gyeong-Ja Bae; Mi-Kyeong Choi

doi:10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.2.111

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Sugar Reduction Perception and Sugary Food Intake among High School Students in Incheon: Gyeong-Ja Bae, Mi-Kyeong Choi; Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 2021;26(2):111-121.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.2.111
Published online: April 30, 2021

¹Graduate student, Major in Nutrition Education, Graduate School of Education, Kongju National University, Yesan, Korea

²Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Kongju National University, Yesan, Korea

Corresponding author: Mi-Kyeong Choi, Tel: +82-41-330-1462, Fax: +82-41-330-1469,
Email: mkchoi67@kongju.ac.kr

Received: 5 April 2021 • Revised: 28 April 2021 • Accepted: 28 April 2021

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Abstract

Objectives
This study examined ways to promote desirable eating habits by choosing foods with low sugar contents and provide nutrition education in adolescents. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. The sugar reduction perception and knowledge, sugary food preference, and intake frequency of 487 male and female high school students in Incheon were analyzed comparatively. Results: Approximately 94.9% and 94.5% of the subjects were unaware of the promotion of a sugar reduction policy and the sugar reduction in the basic guidelines for school meals, respectively. Approximately 95% of them had not received any sugar reduction nutrition education, and 90% were not interested in sugar reduction. The perception for sugar reduction was significantly higher in girls (3.43 out of 5 points) than in boys (3.16 out of 5 points) (P < 0.001). Knowledge about sugar was 3.65 out of 6 points in girls and 3.04 points in boys (P < 0.001). The preference and intake frequency for fruits of the total students were 4.24 out of 5 points and 2.56, respectively. For beverages, the preference was significantly higher in boys (3.97 points) than in girls (3.70 points) (P < 0.001), and the intake frequency was significantly higher in boys (2.26 points) than in girls (2.08 points) (P < 0.001). The preference for snacks was significantly higher for girls (4.19 points) than boys (4.02 points) (P < 0.01), and the intake frequency was 2.22 points in boys and 2.17 in girls, showing no significant difference. Sugar reduction perception and knowledge about sugar showed significant negative correlations with the snack intake frequency (r = -0.11, P < 0.05; -0.13, P < 0.05) after adjusting for gender, grade, and body mass index. Conclusions: The high school students' perception of sugar reduction was very low, and there was a significant correlation with sugary food intake, suggesting that the sugary food intake will decrease as the sugar reduction perception and knowledge about sugar increase.

Keywords: sugar reduction; perception; knowledge; intake; adolescents

Korean J Community Nutr. 2021 Apr;26(2):111-121. Korean.
Published online Apr 30, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.2.111

Original Article

Sugar Reduction Perception and Sugary Food Intake among High School Students in Incheon

Gyeong-Ja Bae

,¹ and Mi-Kyeong Choi

Author information

Author notes

- ¹Graduate student, Major in Nutrition Education, Graduate School of Education, Kongju National University, Yesan, Korea.
- ²Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Kongju National University, Yesan, Korea.
Corresponding author: Mi-Kyeong Choi. Department of Food and Nutrition, Kongju National University, Yesan 32439, Korea. Tel: +82-41-330-1462, Fax: +82-41-330-1469, Email: mkchoi67@kongju.ac.kr

Received April 05, 2021; Revised April 28, 2021; Accepted April 28, 2021.

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

Objectives

This study examined ways to promote desirable eating habits by choosing foods with low sugar contents and provide nutrition education in adolescents.

Methods

This study was a cross-sectional survey. The sugar reduction perception and knowledge, sugary food preference, and intake frequency of 487 male and female high school students in Incheon were analyzed comparatively.

Results

Approximately 94.9% and 94.5% of the subjects were unaware of the promotion of a sugar reduction policy and the sugar reduction in the basic guidelines for school meals, respectively. Approximately 95% of them had not received any sugar reduction nutrition education, and 90% were not interested in sugar reduction. The perception for sugar reduction was significantly higher in girls (3.43 out of 5 points) than in boys (3.16 out of 5 points) (P < 0.001). Knowledge about sugar was 3.65 out of 6 points in girls and 3.04 points in boys (P < 0.001). The preference and intake frequency for fruits of the total students were 4.24 out of 5 points and 2.56, respectively. For beverages, the preference was significantly higher in boys (3.97 points) than in girls (3.70 points) (P < 0.001), and the intake frequency was significantly higher in boys (2.26 points) than in girls (2.08 points) (P < 0.001). The preference for snacks was significantly higher for girls (4.19 points) than boys (4.02 points) (P < 0.01), and the intake frequency was 2.22 points in boys and 2.17 in girls, showing no significant difference. Sugar reduction perception and knowledge about sugar showed significant negative correlations with the snack intake frequency (r = −0.11, P < 0.05; −0.13, P < 0.05) after adjusting for gender, grade, and body mass index.

Conclusions

The high school students' perception of sugar reduction was very low, and there was a significant correlation with sugary food intake, suggesting that the sugary food intake will decrease as the sugar reduction perception and knowledge about sugar increase.

Keywords

sugar reduction; perception; knowledge; intake; adolescents

Tables

Table 1
General characteristics of high school students

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Table 2
Recognition and interest in sugar reduction of high school students

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Table 3
Perception for sugar reduction of high school students

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Table 4
Knowledge about sugar of high school students

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Table 5
Dietary behavior related sugary foods of high school students

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Table 6
Preference and intake frequency of sugary foods of high school students

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Table 7
Correlation between perception for sugar reduction, knowledge about sugar, and preference and intake frequency of sugary foods

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Acknowledgments

This paper is part of the master's degree research.

There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflict of interest.

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