Food Habits and Dietary Behavior Related to Using Processed Food among Male College Students Residing in Dormitory and Self-boarding in Gangwon

The purpose of this study was to examine food habits and dietary behavior related to using processed food among male college students residing in dormitory and self-boarding in Gangwon. A total of 344 students (dormitory group: 227, self-boarding group: 117) were surveyed from May to June of 2012. The results are summarized as follows: self-boarding group had a significantly higher frequency of skipping breakfast and lunch and frequency of out meal compared with the dormitory group (p < 0.05, p < 0.05, p < 0.05 respectively). The self-boarding group had a significantly lower the score of 'eat vegetables and Kimchi at every meal' (p < 0.001) and 'eat a variety of food everyday' (p < 0.001) compared with the dormitory group. The self-boarding group had a significantly higher the preference for meat products (p < 0.05) and canned food (p < 0.01) for selecting processed food compared with the dormitory group. The consideration for selecting processed food was ranked by 'taste', 'price', 'expiration', 'appearance' and 'nutrition' in both dormitory and the self-boarding group. In the dormitory group, nutrition labels were identified certainly 2.6%, sometimes 12.8%, and rarely 17.2%. In the self-boarding group, nutrition labels were identified certainly 1.7%, sometimes 18.0%, and rarely 24.8%. The necessity of nutrition education was high in both dormitory group (51.6%) and the self-boarding group (62.4%). Therefore, development of an educational program and application of the information from nutrition labels for male college students, especially self-boarding students will be effective in improving dietary life in order to maintain healthy dietary habits.