Korea’s multicultural society grew with its rapid increase in international marriage since 2000. Even though there has been research on female marriage immigrants due to the high number of female marriage immigrants, there has not been enough study...
Korea’s multicultural society grew with its rapid increase in international marriage since 2000. Even though there has been research on female marriage immigrants due to the high number of female marriage immigrants, there has not been enough study ontheir experience of adjusting to the new eating habit which is the primary task they face when adapting to a new culture. This study aims to guide international families to obtain ideal dietary life by finding out female marriage immigrants’ eating habit, dietary behaviour, and the influential factors in their experience of adjusting to a new food culture. The participants of this survey, translated in 6 different languages, were female married immigrants who took Korean class from Multicultural Family Support Center in Seoul and Kyungki provinces. Survey focused on general characteristics, Korean food culture adaptation state, factors that influence Korean food culture adaptation, and dietary life following the adaptation. Most female marriage immigrants who participated in this survey were, on average, 29.37 years old and have lived in Korealess than one year. Majority of them (43.8%) have graduated from high school as well. The time it took female marriage immigrant participants to get used to Korean food was between 1~3months, depending on the length of residence in Korea, which brought different result(p<0.05), participants who have been living in Korea less than 7 years adjusted to Korean food faster than those who have been living in Korea more than 7 years. The BMI and average weight of female marriage immigrants differed over their nationality (p<0.05) before they became immigrants in Korea; however, there seems to be a normalization in nutritional status of participants after they moved to Korea. In addition, there have been increases in both BMI and average weight of participants after they moved to Korea. There seem to be a clear difference in level of Korean food satisfaction over nationality of participants and their terms of residency (p<0.05); Filipina showed the highest satisfaction with Korean food among others and it was found that shorter the length of residence in Korea, higher the level of satisfaction in Korean food. Most participants stated that they have dealt with difficulties in adjusting to Korean food culture in the beginning of their residence in Korea even though significant number of them have tried Korean food in their own country. For participants who have tried Korean food before they came to Korea showed higher level of satisfaction with Korean food than those who didn’t (p<0.05). Most participants tried Korean food through Korean restaurants in their home countries; it showed how popular Korean food became in other countries. Participants’ husbands and mother in laws’ supports were found to be most helpful during female marriage immigrants’ trying to adjust to the Korean food culture and the level of Korean food satisfaction was higher among those whose length of residence and schooling were short(p<0.05). 29.3% of participants have stated that they ate their home food ‘1~3times per month’ and 26.8% of participants had their home food ‘0 times per month’ which was a different finding from the previous thesis and it showed that participants were not getting their home food often enough. Frequency of dining out differed according to nationality of participants(p<0.05) Vietnamese female marriage immigrants dined out most often and average time for participants’ dining out was higher than average times for normal Korean couples dining out. Korean meal was clearly favoured over participants’ home food while dining out and choice of meal while dining out differed in different nationality of female marriage immigrants(p<0.05). Most participants lacked confidence with cooking Korean food and showed strong desire to learn how to cook Korean food. Filipina evaluated themselves to have high cooking skills compared to other participants and the result of self evaluation for cooking Korean food differed according to nationality of participants(p<0.05). Preferred Korean dish to learn varied over race(p<0.05) Chinese participants wanted to learn how to cook Jun-Gol (beef with vegetables cooked in casserole)and a pot stew(33.3%), Vietnamese participants chose Kimchi dish(37.1%), Uzbek participants picked wild vegetable and seasoned green(50.0%) and Filipina chose all of above dishes(26.7%). When choosing their favourite Korean dish among dog meat, Uk-Gae-Jang(soup of chopped beef with various condiments), spicy fish soup, minced raw beef, and fruits, the results were differ over participant’s nationalities(p<0.05), original food culture and their race played important roles. The frequency of skipping morning meal was the highest among breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Skipping breakfast without a special reason was found to be most common among participants. The reasons were differ over nationality of participants(p<0.05); Chinese and Uzbek participants’reason for skipping meal was ‘loss of appetite,’ Vietnamese participants said ‘there is no special reason for skipping meals,’ and Filipina participants said ‘too busy’ and ‘there is no special reason’ for skipping meals. Length of residence in Koreahad an impact on participants’ eating habit (p<0.05). Study of relationship between eating habit and length of residence in Korea showed that as participants’ length of residence in Korea got longer, maintaining the habit of eating breakfast at ‘fixed time’ lessened. Among breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 58.9% of participants stated that they eat dinner at ‘fixed time,’ 41.4% of them said they eat lunch at ‘a set time.’
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