Comparative Study of Nutrition Knowledge, Dietary Attitudes, Dietary Behaviors, and Health-related Lifestyles between Korean and Mongolian College Students

초록

College students are in a time of transition from adolescence to adulthood and have responsibility for managing their health. The purpose of this study was to investigate nutrition knowledge, dietary attitudes, dietary behaviors, and health-related lifestyles between Korean college students (KCS) and Mongolian college students (MCS). Subjects were 314 KCS (164 males, 150 females) in Incheon, Korea and 280 MCS (98 males, 182 females) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from March to July 2017 and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS ver20.0. Total score of nutrition knowledge was significantly higher in KCS (17.0 points) compared to MCS (8.4 points, p<0.001) and experience of nutrition education was significantly higher in KCS compared to MCS (p<0.001). Whereas KCS showed significantly lower score in average score of dietary attitude than those of MCS, and those scores were 2.8 and 3.2, respectively (p<0.001). KCS showed significantly lower frequency of breakfast (p<0.001) and significantly higher rate of the unbalanced diet and eating out compared to MCS (p<0.001). Meal time was significantly regular in KCS compared to MCS (p<0.001). As for self-recognized eating problems, 31.8% of KCS answered ‘binge eating’ and 53.2% of MCS did ‘irregular meals’ for most. Rate of alcohol drinking was 75.3% of KCS and 33.9% of MCS, with a significant difference between groups. There was no significant difference in smoking and exercise between KCS (12.1% and 61.1%) and MCS (11.8% and 50.4%). Therefore, it is necessary to educate college students about improving and maintaining healthy dietary life and health-related lifestyles. In particular, KCS need to practice through with the knowledge that they know and MCS need to improve their knowledge of nutrition.