Kyo Woon Kim,Hyun Ah Park, Young Gyu Cho, A Ra Bong
Department of Family Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Background: This study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of
protein intake through meals and present the major protein
sources of Korean adults.
Methods: Cross-sectional data of 15,639 adults aged 19
years or older from the 2016-2018 Korea National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were obtained. The
total, animal, plant protein intakes were assessed using 1-
day 24-hour recall. The distinction between breakfast, lunch,
and dinner was based on the subjective answers of the
participants.
Results: The adequacy of protein intake based on the
Recommended Nutrient Intake was 67.4¡¾1.2% and
62.9¡¾1.1% in young men and women, respectively; it was
51.9¡¾1.4% and 35.7¡¾1.3% in older men and women,
respectively. For men, the proportions of proteins through
meals were 17.4¡¾0.3%, 32.6¡¾0.3%, 38.4¡¾0.3%, and
11.6¡¾0.2% for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks,
respectively. The women showed a similar distribution. In
both men and women, as the age group progressed from the
young (10.9¡¾0.4 g/day, 12.2¡¾0.4%) to the old
(16.9¡¾0.3 g/day, 27.3¡¾0.4%), their intake of proteins and
their proportions in meals taken as breakfast also in-
creased, while their dinner protein intake and proportion
decreased. The highest-ranked and the 2nd high-
est-ranked protein sources among the young and middle-
aged groups were meat and grains, respectively; the
third sources were fish and shellfish. In the old-age group,
grains were the highest-ranked protein sources across all
three meals.
Conclusions: Despite the increase in protein intake, one out
of three young people and two out of three older
adults in Korea had inadequate protein intake and uneven
meal distributions of protein intake.
Korean J Health Promot 2021;21(2):63-72
Keywords: Dietary protein, Meal distribution, Animal protein,
Plant protein |