Children eat lunch at an elementary school in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on May 27, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Teenagers who watch cooking or eating shows online are more likely to have an unhealthy diet than those who do not, a survey showed Sunday.
A survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency covered 60,000 middle and high school students from 800 schools nationwide.
It found that 4 in 10 students watch cooking or eating shows online at least once a week.
Among the respondents, 17.5 percent said they watched these shows one or two times a week, while 11.3 percent watched them three or four times a week. Another 8.3 percent reported watching them every day.
Female students watched these shows more often than males.
Of those who watched cooking or eating shows online, 40.7 percent skipped breakfast more than five times a week, which was higher than the 35 percent reported among those who did not watch these shows.
The data also showed that 24.2 percent of those who watched these shows consumed night-time snacks, which was also higher than the percentage of non-viewers (21.9 percent).
Students who watched cooking or eating shows consumed fast food (29.1 percent), sweetened beverages (65.4 percent), and highly caffeinated drinks (22.6 percent) more than three times a week.
These rates were up to 6 percentage points higher than those who did not watch these shows.
In contrast, the rate of fruit consumption (more than once per day), vegetable consumption (more than three times per day), and milk consumption (more than once per day) was higher among students who did not watch cooking or eating shows.
Even among students who watched cooking or eating shows, those who watched them most frequently (five to seven times a week) consumed more night-time snacks, fast food, sweetened drinks, and highly caffeinated drinks, and skipped more breakfasts than others.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
