Relationship Among Self-Reported Fatigue, Dietary Taurine Intake, and Dietary Habits in Korean College Students - Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology - page 247

Table 24.4 Dietary habit scores of the subjects
Variables Male ( n = 142) Female ( n = 97)

Eating breakfast regularly 3.1 ± 0.1 a 3.2 ± 0.1

Eating meals at regular times 3.2 ± 0.1 2.7 ± 0.1* b

Eating adequate amount of meals 3.0 ± 0.1 3.2 ± 0.1

Eating three meals a day 3.1 ± 0.1 2.7 ± 0.1*

Having meals with diverse foods 2.8 ± 0.1 2.5 ± 0.1*

Avoiding eating spicy foods 2.8 ± 0.1 2.7 ± 0.1

Not eat salty foods 3.1 ± 0.1 3.1 ± 0.1

Eating foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and beans more than two
times a day

3.1 ± 0.1 2.9 ± 0.1

Avoiding eating foods containing oil or mayonnaise more than
two times a day

2.6 ± 0.1 2.6 ± 0.1

Eating greenish yellow vegetable every meal 3.3 ± 0.1 3.2 ± 0.1

Eat dairy foods(milk, yogurt, etc.) everyday 3.0 ± 0.1 2.9 ± 0.1

Eat fruits everyday 2.6 ± 0.1 2.8 ± 0.1

Not eat sweet foods(snack, chocolate, etc.) everyday 3.5 ± 0.1 3.3 ± 0.1

Eat natural foods mostly 2.7 ± 0.1 2.5 ± 0.1

Avoiding eating harmful foods 3.3 ± 0.1 2.9 ±0.1*

Check nutrition facts 2.5 ± 0.1 2.6 ± 0.1

Drink 2 L water everyday 3.1 ± 0.1 2.6 ± 0.1

Apply nutrition knowledge to daily life 3.2 ± 0.1 3.2 ± 0.1

Total score 51.3 ± 0.9 47.2 ± 0.9**

a Values are mean ± SE
b * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 (by Student's t -test)

a day” ( p < 0.05), “having meals with diverse foods” ( p < 0.05), and “avoiding eat-
ing harmful foods” ( p < 0.05) were significantly lower in female students compared
to male students. Total dietary habit scores of males were significantly higher than
total dietary habit scores of females. It was similarly reported that female college
students had poor dietary habits (Ko 2007 ) .

24.4 Correlation Between Self-Reported Fatigue

Scores and Dietary Habit Score

There was no significant correlation between self-reported fatigue scores and dietary
taurine intake (Table 24.5 ). However, there was significant negative correlation
between self-reported fatigue scores and dietary habit score such as “eating meals at
regular times” ( p < 0.05), “eating foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and beans more
than two times a day” ( p < 0.05), “eating greenish yellow vegetable every meal”
( p < 0.05), and “avoiding eating sweet foods everyday” ( p < 0.05). Self-reported
fatigue was associated with poor dietary habits.