The relationship between Intake of Health Foods and Dietary Behavior in Middle-Aged Women / 대한지역사회영양학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the health food consumption patterns and their relationship to dietary behavior in middle-aged women (45-60 years). METHODS: The exclusive face-to-face interviews by well-trained interviewers guaranteed a scientific data collection and the quality of survey data of 731 women. Subjects were divided into two groups according to the intake of the health foods, 'Intake' group (> or = 3.2, n = 488) and 'Non-intake' group (n = 243). Data were analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 program. RESULTS: The average age of the subjects was 49.8 years and 66.8% of subjects were taking the health foods. Vitamins and minerals were consumed by the subjects. The major reason for intake of health foods was that they provide nutrient supplements may prevent diseases. More than 70% of the subjects reported checking nutrition information, ingredients, recommended daily intakes, instructions, when they bought the health foods. The average dietary life score of the intake group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of the non-intake group. In analysis of exploratory factors of dietary life, the intake group showed significantly higher score (p < 0.001) in 'moderation of food intake' among the 4 exploratory factors. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that women who took health foods had better dietary behavior than others suggesting a positive relation between the dietary behavior and the health food consumption. Therefore, we suggest that developing guidelines and then educating women about those guidelines could improve the ability of choosing health foods appropriately for their own benefit.