A survey was performed on 997 female junior college students in order to acquire date relevant to dietary guidance for young women. Matters inquired included practices of weight reduction, intake of snack foods and soft drinks, the family function surrounding dietary life (family communication, television watching during meal time, and use of ready-to-serve dishes), attitude toward dietary life (leaving foods on the plate, poorly balanced diet, no interest in foods, not perceiving food and drinks as sources of nutrients, no interest talking nutrition, useless to discuss nutrition, enough to think of nutrition after becoming pregnant), and problematic behaviors concerning dietary life (poor appetite, temporary loss of appetite, after-meal nausea, uncontrollable over-eating, psychological or stress-induced appetite disorders). The results obtained are as follows:
1) Students practicing weight-reduction (WRST) accounted for 12.7%; the WRSTs with the average or less-than-average body weight accounted for 14.3% and 6.1% respectively. The rates of meal skipping for WRSTs were 15.2% for lunch and 16.8% for suppers, while the rates of non-WRSTs were significantly low at 8.4% and 7.7% respectively. The rates of food intakes for WRSTs were lower for all meals than those for non-WRSTs in respect of almost all food items.
2) With respect to questions concerning 13 kinds of snack foods and soft drinks, the combined number of students who answered that “they buy the snacks, etc. in bulk and keep them at hand always” and “buy them once to four times a week” amounted to 30 to 80%. They ate confectioneries at 43.3 to 62.2% between meals, but not so much late at night (less than 16%). When broken down by the mode of living, more than 1/3 of those cooking their own meals ingested soft drinks between meals with more frequency. Most of foods were taken as late night snacks by those living in dormitories. Those who skipped breakfast took snacks at higher rates between meals or late at night.
3) Those with problematic dietary behaviors such as skipping meals or eating alone had poor family functions.
4) There was observed some association between the attitude towards dietary life and the actual dietary practices; those with undesirable attitudes were found to manifest higher rates of skipping meals, eating alone or were less involved in dietary life.
5) Problematic behaviors in dietary life were more prevalent in students who skipped meals or ate alone. Some problems were related to whether or not she was a WRST.
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