Children of Lacto‐ovo Vegetarian Families consume less Carbonated Beverages, Ice Cream, Fast Food, and Fried Food in the Seoul Area.

As one of the developing countries in Asia, Korea used to be a country where people had a diet high in vegetables and rice, but in recent years it has become a country where Western style diets are become increasingly popular. Accordingly, the common age for obesity, diabetes, and chronic diseases became younger due to the change of dietary habits in Seoul, Korea. Although obesity and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, have become serious problems even among children, almost no study has been made on the relationship between dietary habit and family background of children. The purpose of this study is to compare the dietary habits of children between lacto‐ovo vegetarian and non‐vegetarian families. The data was collected from the subjects selected from children(n=300) of Sahmyook University kindergarten. The results showed that non‐vegetarians had a higher intake of carbonated beverages, ice cream, fast food, and fried food. Lacto‐ovo vegetarian children consume higher amounts of kimchi, vegetables, fruits, and juices. Also, lacto‐ovo vegetarian children trended to have regular meals. However, 36–48% of all children had lower intakes of energy, vitamin B 2 , calcium and iron than required. Also, lacto‐ovo vegetarian children had less intake of energy, niacin, vitamin A, vitamin B 1 , vitamin B 2 , vitamin C, Ca, Fe, Zn, and P. In conclusion, children of lacto‐ovo vegetarian families consumed less carbonated beverages, ice cream, fast food, and fried food. Accordingly, children of non‐vegetarian families place them at higher risk for chronic disease as a result of family dietary habits. However, it is required to made a dietary guideline for children not to have lower intake of essential nutrients.