title: Sociocultural Factors Influencing Eating Practices Among Office Workers in Urban South Korea.
abstract: To understand the sociocultural factors affecting the eating behaviors of South Korean employees.
  
  
  
  In-depth individual interviews.
  
  
  
  Two metropolitan areas of South Korea.
  
  
  
  Thirteen male and 9 female office workers.
  
  
  
  The effects of sociocultural factors on office workers' eating behaviors.
  
  
  
  The researchers transcribed and analyzed audio-recorded interviews using thematic analysis.
  
  
  
  Among social and economic factors, participants with a family described a connection between female employment and lower frequency of home-cooked family meals. Working parents felt guilty about their need to depend on eating outside the home and eating processed foods because of their schedules. In addition, competitive and stressful working environments negatively affected workers' nutritional choices. Regarding cultural factors, given the powerful influences of collectivism and Confucianism on daily life, hierarchy and group harmony clearly had an important role in workers' everyday food choices. These included choosing menus that were most suitable for group meals and having to miss dinnertime while waiting until higher-position workers to leave work in the evening.
  
  
  
  In this sociocultural setting, targeting office workers and changing social norms for healthy eating may be more effective than providing individualized interventions. These findings may be transferable to other, similar Asian countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sohyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: eunjusung68@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eunju
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yuni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seungho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Center for Cohort Studies, Total Healthcare Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yoosoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Center for Human Nutrition, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gittelsohn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: cultural influences; eating behavior; family meals; food intake; qualitative research; social influences