Sugar Reduction Perception and Sugary Food Intake among High School Students in Incheon

28, 2021 ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examined ways to promote desirable eating habits by choosing foods with low sugar contents and provide nutrition education in adolescents. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. The sugar reduction perception and knowledge, sugary food preference, and intake frequency of 487 male and female high school students in Incheon were analyzed comparatively. Results: Approximately 94.9% and 94.5% of the subjects were unaware of the promotion of a sugar reduction policy and the sugar reduction in the basic guidelines for school meals, respectively. Approximately 95% of them had not received any sugar reduction nutrition education, and 90% were not interested in sugar reduction. The perception for sugar reduction was significantly higher in girls (3.43 out of 5 points) than in boys (3.16 out of 5 points) ( P < 0.001). Knowledge about sugar was 3.65 out of 6 points in girls and 3.04 points in boys ( P < 0.001). The preference and intake frequency for fruits of the total students were 4.24 out of 5 points and 2.56, respectively. For beverages, the preference was significantly higher in boys (3.97 points) than in girls (3.70 points) ( P < 0.001), and the intake frequency was significantly higher in boys (2.26 points) than in girls (2.08 points) ( P < 0.001). The preference for snacks was significantly higher for girls (4.19 points) than boys (4.02 points) ( P < 0.01), and the intake frequency was 2.22 points in boys and 2.17 in girls, showing no significant difference. Sugar reduction perception and knowledge about sugar showed significant negative correlations with the snack intake frequency (r = -0.11, P < 0.05; -0.13, P < 0.05) after adjusting for gender, grade, and body mass index. Conclusions: The high school students' perception of sugar reduction was very low, and there was a significant correlation with sugary food intake, suggesting that the sugary food intake will decrease as the sugar reduction perception and knowledge about