Department of Food and Nutrition, Inha University, 253 YongHyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751, Korea.
Nutr Res Pract. 2008 Winter;2(4):269-74. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2008.2.4.269. Epub 2008 Dec 31.
Consuming regular meals has been studied in relation to better health, while higher regularity of eating-out has been linked to obesity. This study examined whether acculturation was associated with regularity of meals, eating-out, and overweight in Korean Americans. Pre-tested questionnaires were mailed to a U.S. national sample with Korean American surnames, and 55% of the deliverable sample responded, producing 356 usable questionnaires. Acculturation was measured using a two-culture matrix model and Gordon's theoretical work, and showed there were three distinct groups (acculturated, bicultural, and traditional). Only 36% reported that they regularly ate three meals a day. Breakfast was the least frequent meal of the day with 43% reporting eating breakfast everyday. More than half (58%) reported that they usually eat out or get take-out food at least once a week. After controlling for age, sex, income, education, and working status, higher acculturation was related to greater regularity of eating-out, but not meal regularity. A total of 28% of men and 6% of women were overweight (BMI>25), and there were significant and positive relationships between body weight status and acculturation in men but not women. However, no significant relationships between frequency of meals and eating-out and overweight status were present. This study did not find significant relationships of meal regularity and eating-out with body weight, however, given the positive relationship between acculturation and eating-out among the subjects and the well-established relationship between eating-out and obesity, nutrition education about skipping meals and eating-for Korean Americans may be useful to prevent such relationships from developing.
经常用餐与健康状况较好有关，而较高的外出就餐频率与肥胖有关。本研究调查了韩裔美国人的文化适应是否与用餐规律、外出就餐和超重有关。研究人员预先向有韩裔美国人姓氏的全美样本邮寄了调查问卷，其中 55%的可交付样本做出了回应，产生了 356 份有效问卷。采用双文化矩阵模型和 Gordon 的理论工作来衡量文化适应程度，结果显示存在三个不同群体（同化者、双文化者和传统者）。只有 36%的人报告他们每天规律地吃三餐。早餐是一天中最不常吃的一餐，有 43%的人每天都吃早餐。超过一半（58%）的人报告他们每周至少有一次外出就餐或点外卖。在控制年龄、性别、收入、教育程度和工作状况后，较高的文化适应程度与更规律的外出就餐有关，但与用餐规律无关。28%的男性和 6%的女性超重（BMI>25），男性的体重状况与文化适应之间存在显著的正相关关系，但女性则没有。然而，用餐频率和外出就餐与超重状况之间没有显著的关系。本研究没有发现用餐规律和外出就餐与体重之间有显著的关系，但是鉴于被试者中文化适应与外出就餐之间的积极关系，以及外出就餐与肥胖之间的既定关系，关于韩裔美国人不吃早餐和外出就餐的营养教育可能有助于防止这些关系的发展。
