서울시내 어린이 집 교사의 식습관과 영양지식 = Dietary Habits and Nutrition Knowledge of the Teachers at Day-care Centers in Seoul

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A nutrition education program for teachers and caregivers of the preschool children can be most effective when it is based on a comprehensive needs assessment dealing with sociodemographic factors, dietary habits, and nutrition. The purpose of the present study was to investigate current dietary habits and nutrition knowledge of the teachers and caregivers of the day-care centers. Two hundred forty two teachers and caregivers were administered a questionnaire which was designed to ascertain informations on sociodemographic data, dietary habits and nutrition knowledge. Dietary habits of the teachers were found to be significantly different by sociodemographic variables; breakfast skipping/meal irregularities (age, p=0.011); frequency of snacking (education level p=0.031); preference for salty taste(age, p = 0.000, marital status p=0.038); preference for sweet taste (age p=0.009); preference for vegetables (income level p=0.050); frequency of eating out (age p=0.028, marital status p=0.001); frequency of coffee drinking (age p=0.019). Daycare center teachers' nutrition knowledge level was found to be less than adequate expecially on nutrients that are liable to be deficient in young growing children and their food sources. Proportions of the teachers who answered correctly to the questions on foods rich in vitamin A, iron content of milk, bioavailability of calcium in plant foods were as low as 20.2%-54.5%. The most frequently used sources of nutrition information were mass media such as TV, radio, newspaper and magazines. Only 2.9% of the subjects reported that they obtain nutrition information from health professionals such as nutritionists/dietitians, physicians, and nurses. These findings are applicable at the planning and implementation stages of various nutrition programs for the improvement of dietary habits and nutrition knowledge of the teachers and caregivers of the daycare centers. Further studies are needed to investigate the effects of teachers' dietary habits and nutrition knowledge on food habits of young growing children.