This research was conducted to find out the characteristics of dietary behavior and nutritional status of the recipients under the National Basic Livelihood Security System(NBLSS). As the research was initiated at the early stage of implementation of...
This research was conducted to find out the characteristics of dietary behavior and nutritional status of the recipients under the National Basic Livelihood Security System(NBLSS). As the research was initiated at the early stage of implementation of the NBLSS, however, the focus was placed rather on the understanding of the recipients' status than on the evaluation of the NBLSS's effects. For this purpose, the characteristics of the dietary behavior and nutritional status of the recipients were analyzed in comparison with those of the non-recipients neighbors. This study included 290 households (153 recipients, 137 non-recipients) from low income neighbors. From each household, one child and one adult (supposed to be a guardian of that child) were surveyed.
There were differences of dietary behavior in terms of not only age group but also NBLSS status. Dietary intakes and physical development of the recipient children were similar to those of the non-recipient children, which were not significantly different from the Korean standards. In the case of adults as a whole, however, the dietary intakes were poor, the low levels of weight were conspicuous, and the health conditions were inferior. Such problems were much severer for the recipient male adults.
In the analysis of the factors relating to the dietary intakes and the physical conditions, the dietary intakes of the children were largely affected by eating habits, while those of the adults were more dependent upon sex, educational levels, and economic factors such as food expenses. For children, the degree of obesity was predicted significantly by the recipiency (non-recipients > recipients) and energy intake, while energy intake was the most important for obesity among adults. As for the health conditions, the duration of TV watching and energy intake were significant variables for children. Adults appeared to be healthier as they were nonrecipents, and had more education, better dietary quality, lower depression level, shorter duration of TV watching.
The results of this study showed that the nutritional and health status of the children were more affected by variables on dietary behavior than by the socio-economic factors. This implied that nutrition education should be more aggressively promoted for the children while focusing on behavioral changes. As compared to children, adults' nutritional and health conditions were more influenced by socioeconomic status. Nutrition management skills of adults were important for nutrition and health for not only adults themselves but also their children. It suggests that in order to improve nutritional and health status of the adults in the low-income families, economic conditions of those families should be seriously considered. Moreover, nutrition education for adults in order to improve nutrition management skills will also be considered for better nutrition and health status of people from economically less advantageous households.