Dietary Life of Chinese International Students according to the Frequency of University Foodservice Use in Korea

Yan Cui; Hye-Jong Yoo; Injoo Choi; Jihyun Yoon

doi:10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.291

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Dietary Life of Chinese International Students according to the Frequency of University Foodservice Use in Korea: Yan Cui, Hye-Jong Yoo, Injoo Choi, Jihyun Yoon; Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 2020;25(4):291-302.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.291
Published online: August 31, 2020

¹Graduate Student, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

²Instructor, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

³Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author: Jihyun Yoon,
Email: hoonyoon@snu.ac.kr

Received: 3 July 2020 • Revised: 21 August 2020 • Accepted: 22 August 2020

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Abstract

Objective
This study investigated the current use of university foodservice among Chinese international students in Korea, focusing on the relationship between the frequency of university foodservice use and their dietary life.
Methods
An online survey was conducted on 452 Chinese international students from February 6 to 12, 2020. The respondents were classified into “the Low-frequency group” (< one time/week; n=144), “the Mid-frequency group” (one-two times/week; n=133), and “the High-frequency group” (≥three times/week; n=175) according to their frequency of using university foodservice. The dietary life was compared among the three groups. Binominal logistic regression models were constructed to determine the associations between the frequency of university foodservice use and the changes in dietary life.
Results
More than 2/3 (68.1%) of the respondents used the university foodservice at least once per week. Chinese international students who were males and Han Chinese people, lived on campus, had stayed longer in Korea, and had no cooking facilities tended to use the university foodservice more often. The level of satisfaction with the university foodservice was not high (3.52 out of 5-points). Only 20% ate meals three times per day, and only 22% ate breakfast almost every day. The frequencies of overeating and skipping meals increased after studying in Korea. The frequency of university foodservice use, along with the length of residence in Korea, was associated with these negative changes in dietary life. Overeating (OR=2.11) and skipping meals (OR=1.79) were more likely to increase after studying in Korea in the Mid-frequency group than in the High-frequency group.
Conclusions
The frequency of university foodservice use was associated with the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea. A high frequency (i.e. ≥three times/week) of using university foodservice may positively affect the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea.

Keywords: Chinese students; college and university foodservice; online survey; logistic regression; food lifestyle

Korean J Community Nutr. 2020 Aug;25(4):291-302. Korean.
Published online Aug 31, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.291

Original Article

Dietary Life of Chinese International Students according to the Frequency of University Foodservice Use in Korea

Yan Cui

,¹ Hye-Jong Yoo

,¹ Injoo Choi

,² and Jihyun Yoon

Author information

Author notes

- ¹Graduate Student, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
- ²Instructor, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
- ³Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Corresponding author: Jihyun Yoon. Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea. Tel: (02) 880-8750, Fax: (02) 884-0305, Email: hoonyoon@snu.ac.kr

Received July 03, 2020; Revised August 21, 2020; Accepted August 22, 2020.

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 investigated the current use of university foodservice among Chinese international students in Korea, focusing on the relationship between the frequency of university foodservice use and their dietary life.

Methods

An online survey was conducted on 452 Chinese international students from February 6 to 12, 2020. The respondents were classified into “the Low-frequency group” (< one time/week; n=144), “the Mid-frequency group” (one-two times/week; n=133), and “the High-frequency group” (≥ three times/week; n=175) according to their frequency of using university foodservice. The dietary life was compared among the three groups. Binominal logistic regression models were constructed to determine the associations between the frequency of university foodservice use and the changes in dietary life.

Results

More than 2/3 (68.1%) of the respondents used the university foodservice at least once per week. Chinese international students who were males and Han Chinese people, lived on campus, had stayed longer in Korea, and had no cooking facilities tended to use the university foodservice more often. The level of satisfaction with the university foodservice was not high (3.52 out of 5-points). Only 20% ate meals three times per day, and only 22% ate breakfast almost every day. The frequencies of overeating and skipping meals increased after studying in Korea. The frequency of university foodservice use, along with the length of residence in Korea, was associated with these negative changes in dietary life. Overeating (OR=2.11) and skipping meals (OR=1.79) were more likely to increase after studying in Korea in the Mid-frequency group than in the High-frequency group.

Conclusions

The frequency of university foodservice use was associated with the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea. A high frequency (i.e. ≥ three times/week) of using university foodservice may positively affect the dietary life of Chinese international students in Korea.

Keywords

Chinese students; college and university foodservice; online survey; logistic regression; food lifestyle

Tables

Table 1
Frequency of university foodservice use among Chinese international students in Korea

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Table 2
General characteristics of the respondents according to the frequency of university foodservice use

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Table 3
Level of satisfaction with university foodservice among Chinese international students in Korea according to the frequency of university foodservice use

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Table 4
Frequency of meals among Chinese international students in Korea according to the frequency of university foodservice use

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Table 5
Changes in dietary life after studying in Korea among Chinese international students according to the frequency of university foodservice use

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Table 6
Factors related to the changes in dietary life after studying in Korea among Chinese international students

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by The Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University.

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