Evaluation of Vegetable Intakes according to Body Mass Index of Adolescents in Chungnam

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate vegetable intakes according to body mass index (BMI) of adolescents. For this, 400 middle and high school adolescents living in Buyeogun, Chungnam were classified into underweight group, healthy weight group, and overweight group according to BMI, after which eating habits, daily intake levels of vegetables, perception of vegetables, and vegetable-related eating habits were compared and analyzed. As the reason for skipping breakfast, 'Lack of time (44.3%)' was the most frequently cited. In the case of unbalanced food intakes, the underweight group and overweight group showed the highest response for 'grain' while the healthy weight group showed the highest response for 'vegetables' with significant differences (P<0.001). Daily intakes of one serving size of vegetables was 3.3 in the underweight group, 3.8 servings in the healthy weight group, and 3.8 servings in the overweight group, but there was no significant difference. However, frequency of vegetable intake at lunch was once in the underweight group, which was significantly lower than 1.3 servings in the healthy weight group and 1.4 servings in the overweight group (P<0.05). Regarding perception of vegetables, perception of 'Vegetable consumption helps to get beautiful skin' (P<0.01) and 'I eat vegetables or don't eat depending on a cooking method' (P<0.05) were significantly higher in the underweight group. In the evaluation of vegetables-related eating habits, preference for vegetables in the underweight group was lower than that in the healthy weight and overweight groups (P<0.05). Summarizing the above results, vegetable intake by adolescents was generally low, and the frequency of vegetable intake at lunch as well as preference for vegetables were significantly lower in the underweight group. Studies to identify the relationships between adolescent body types and vegetable intakes are required.