The study aimed to investigate the basic data to derive plans for snack provision to improve the nutritional status of older adults living in long-term care facilities (LFs) or long-term care hospitals (LHs). The 252 respondents (118 from LHs and 134 from LFs) were included in the study. The questionnaire of nationwide cross-sectional survey was developed by the authors and registered dietitians. The written questionnaire was sent to the food service managers across 800 LFs or LHs. The online survey was introduced using the online platform and network site for dietitians. More than 70% of live-in and non-live-in LFs provided snacks, which were mainly provided one to two times a day. Most institutions provided fruits one to three times a week. The main considerations when providing fruit were in the order of residents’ preference, cost, and ease of consumption. The reasons for not serving fruit included cost and differences in the residents’ eating and mastication abilities. Most institutions also provided dairy products at a frequency of one to three times a week. The reasons for not serving dairy products included cost and the lack of awareness of the need to provide them. To improve the quality of life and the offer benefits of fruits and dairy products to older people, efforts are needed to propose a plan to expand the provision of snacks in appropriate quantities and varieties.
Diets high in fruits and vegetables are recommended to maintain health. However, accurate fruit intake evaluation is hard and high sugar content in most of the fruits suggest possible negative relationships with health indices. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the fruit intake status of adolescents and to examine the relationship between fruit intake and body mass index (BMI). For this, 400 middle and high school students were surveyed for their fruit eating attitude, preference, and intake level for fruit along with the evaluation of their relationship with anthropometric measures. As for fruit preference, the most frequent answer was 'like very much' (60.0%) and the preference of fruit was significantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.01). The highest answer to the reason to like fruits was 'delicious' (67.0%). The highest proportion of subjects replied that the amount of fruit intake was similar in both school meals and at home (39.3%) and unlikable feeling of fruits was 'sour' (47.0%). The favorite fruit was the apple followed by oriental melon, grape, Korean cherry, cherry, tangerine/orange, hallabong, plum, mango, persimmon, peach, pear/kiwi, apricot, Japanese apricot, and fig in order. As for the number of serving sizes per person were 2.9 times/day for male students and 3.0 times/day for female students showing no significant difference. The frequency of eating fruits in the evening showed a significant positive correlation with body weight (p < 0.05) and BMI (p < 0.01), respectively. In summary of these study findings, it was found that the fruit preference of adolescents was relatively high and their fruit intake level satisfied the recommended number of intake. The number of evening fruit intake had a significantly positive correlation with body weight and BMI. Further studies are required to examine the relationship between fruit intake and health indicators.
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High fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer is continuously increasing in Korea, but only a few studies on nutrition intervention in breast cancer patients has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an 8-week nutrition intervention based on dietary counseling can promote fruit and vegetable consumption, increase serum antioxidant nutrient levels, and improve quality of life in Korean breast cancer patients. Sixty-one breast cancer patients received either standard care (n = 31) or nutrition counseling (n = 30). The standard care group was given brochures recommending phytochemical rich diet. The intervention group was provided with two nutrition counseling sessions and one cooking class session, thereby encouraged subjects to eat at least 10 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. After 8-week intervention, waist circumference in the intervention group was significantly decreased (p < 0.001) even though no difference was reported for body mass index. Energy intake (p = 0.007), fiber (p < 0.001), and antioxidant nutrient (vitamin A, C, E, and β-carotene, p < 0.001, respectively) intakes were significantly increased. Serum antioxidant level was also increased significantly, i.e., vitamin A (p = 0.048); vitamin E (p = 0.004). Total vegetable intake (excluding kimchi intake) in the intervention group was increased from 425 g to 761 g (p < 0.001), fruit consumption was also increased from 232 g to 334 g (p < 0.001), while standard care group did not show any significant change. Our study showed that nutrition counseling and providing cooking tips helped to encourage the patient to consume and maintain more fruit and vegetable intakes.
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