rice is a major crop used by two thirds of the world 's population as their staple food . it is drawing attention recently as a food with considerable impact on people 's health , and is usually consumed as brown rice or polished rice depending on the degree of milling . brown rice is spotlighted as a health food containing a large variety of nutrients , dietary fiber , minerals and vitamins and its consumption is reported to be increasing every year . according to previous studies on americans ' consumption of grain , it was reported that those who kept taking a regular meal of whole grain maintained a normal weight and exhibited lower prevalence of adult diseases compared to those who did not . on the other hand , those eating rice preferred foods such as grains , vegetables , poultry and fish , so they were supplied with more diverse nutrients from healthy menus than those who preferred meat . in a study on american people 's grain consumption , the intake of rice was found to have an effect on preventing adult diseases , and another study on the effect of rice intake on mental health and immunity among japanese , comparing before and after rice intakes , found that rice intake improved mental health and immunity . for these reasons , the intake of rice and vegetables is increasing in americans ' menus . people in developed western countries get carbohydrates mainly from grain foods such as bread , snacks and noodles . and the consumption of wheat is greater than that of other grains , though the intake of cereal and processed rice foods has been increasing since the 1990s . it is reported moreover , that rice enriched with thiamin , riboflavin , iron , b vitamins , niacin , etc . is being consumed in the u.s . to supplement the shortage of nutrients in polished rice or processed cereal . in asian countries where rice is consumed as a staple food however , gradually we see that rice intake is decreasing while meat intake is increasing due to changing menus as a result of westernization . particularly in korea the intakes of wheat and meat per person have increased by 2 and 1.5 times respectively during the period from the 1990s to the present but rice intake has decreased every year during the period from 1998 to 2005 . what is more , the meal skipping rate in korea , which was heightened by the economic crisis starting in 1997 , is believed to have contributed to the decrease in rice intake in the early 1990s , but even after the recovery of the economic situation rice intake has continued to decrease [ 11 - 13 ] . previous studies reported that rice is a crucial food for maintaining health and preventing adult diseases . whether to eat rice or not , and the quantity of rice intake are recognized as important factors related to the incidence of various diseases . for these reasons , many countries have conducted studies on the effects and intake of rice as well as on rice consumption . in korea however , although rice is consumed as staple food , few studies have been conducted on rice consumption . thus , this study purposed to analyze trends in korean adults ' rice intake using data from knhanes ( 1998 - 2005 ) and to provide basic data usable in food - related areas and the food service industry . this study was conducted using the research methods of lee and kim , who studied korean people 's vegetable intake , and the specific research methodology is as follows . this study analyzed 28,660 koreans between the ages of 19 and 65 who participated in the dietary lifestyle survey and 24-hour dietary recall method during 1998 , 2001 and 2005 knhanes ( korean national health and nutrition examination survey ) subjects . this study regarding rice consumption of korean adults analyzed the trend of annual per capita consumption of rice intake according to meal type ( breakfast , lunch , dinner and snack ) and serving place(home , institution , restaurant and other place ) . foods were coded and analyzed using a five - digit food coding scheme developed according to the korean ministry of health and welfare in 1998 , 2001 and 2005 for knhanes . items falling under the category of rice were further characterized as polished rice , unpolished rice and sticky rice . in addition , rice was consumed by a significant portion of the korean adult population from 1998~2005 . comparison of the amount of rice consumption per day included a 24h recall scenario sampling of 28,660 from the knhnes during 1998~2005 . total gender , age , household income and region are directly related to rice consumption in korean adults . 10.01(sudaan , research triangle institute , research triangle park , nc , usa ) by chi - square test , bonferroni 's multiple t - test . this study was conducted using the research methods of lee and kim , who studied korean people 's vegetable intake , and the specific research methodology is as follows . this study analyzed 28,660 koreans between the ages of 19 and 65 who participated in the dietary lifestyle survey and 24-hour dietary recall method during 1998 , 2001 and 2005 knhanes ( korean national health and nutrition examination survey ) subjects . this study regarding rice consumption of korean adults analyzed the trend of annual per capita consumption of rice intake according to meal type ( breakfast , lunch , dinner and snack ) and serving place(home , institution , restaurant and other place ) . foods were coded and analyzed using a five - digit food coding scheme developed according to the korean ministry of health and welfare in 1998 , 2001 and 2005 for knhanes . items falling under the category of rice were further characterized as polished rice , unpolished rice and sticky rice . in addition , rice was consumed by a significant portion of the korean adult population from 1998~2005 . comparison of the amount of rice consumption per day included a 24h recall scenario sampling of 28,660 from the knhnes during 1998~2005 . total gender , age , household income and region are directly related to rice consumption in korean adults . 10.01(sudaan , research triangle institute , research triangle park , nc , usa ) by chi - square test , bonferroni 's multiple t - test . under this study , the data of adults 19 years and older who responded to the food intake frequency survey ( 12 years old and older ) and the food intake survey ( survey of 24-hour recall method for each individual ) of the national health and nutrition surveys ( 1998 - 2005 ) was facilitated to implement cross analysis for 3 years following gender , age , education level , occupation , income , residence , marital status and eating - out frequency . looking into the general information of adults , under the gender of ( table 1 ) , men had 3,362 persons in 1998 , 3,265 persons in 2001 , and 2,946 persons in 2005 that 2005 had the most . in the case of women , there were 3,849 persons in 2001 which was more than 1998 and 2005 , and the ratio showed a higher rate for women than men ( p < 0.001 ) . for the age group ' 30 - 49 years old ' in 1998 had 46.4% , 2001 for 45.5% , and 2005 for 46.2% to show the highest , and 65 years old or more had the lowest ratio ( p < 0.001 ) . for regions , the highest number of respondents was from ' metropolitan ' areas and the least was from ' rural ' areas . the residents in ' metropolitan ' areas in 1998 was 48.3% which increased in 2001 by 12.3% , and eventually fell in 2005 by 0.5% ( the number of respondents in the ' middle & small cities ' , compared between 1998 and 2001 , showed a decrease of 7.1% and increase of 2.3% between 2001 and 2005 . respondents in ' rural ' regions , showed a decrease from 20.3% in 1998 to 5.3% and 1.8% in 2001 and 2005 , respectively , to display noticeable result ( p < 0.001 ) . looking into education level , a ' person with high school education ' was the most common respondent in 2001 and 2005 , excluding 1998 , and a person with college or higher education was the least common respondent on all 3 occasions . for household income , the ' low income class ' in 1998 was 34.6% and it decreased by 2001 to 15.7% and in 2005 it fell to 14.8% ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' middle class ' , accounted for 44.5% in 1998 and declined by 1.9% in 2001 and 6.1% in 2005 to display a noticeable result ( p < 0.001 ) . in the ' high income class ' , data showed a difference from 1998 to decline in 2001 to 17.6% and 2005 for 20.8% ( p < 0.001 ) . for occupation , all 3 years had more ' employed ' than ' unemployed ' , and both ' employed ' and ' unemployed ' had shown a noticeable result in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' employed ' group declined in 2001 by 2.4% compared to 1998 , but it increased in 2005 by 1.5% ( p < 0.001 ) , and in the event of the ' unemployed ' , it increased by 2.4% in 2001 from 40.3% of 1998 , but then decreased by 1.5% in 2006 ( p < 0.001 ) . looking into the marital status , all 3 years showed ' married ' with an 80% higher rate than ' unmarried ' and both ' married ' and ' unmarried ' displayed a noticeable result for 3 years ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' unmarried ' group were 18.1% in 1998 which increased in 2001 by 0.7% and 20005 by 2.4% ( p < 0.001 ) . but in the event of ' married ' , compared to 1998 , it declined in 2001 by 0.7% and in 2005 by 4.4% ( p < 0.001 ) . the rice intake amount of all korean adults is shown as in ( table 2 , fig . 1 ) . the whole rice intake amount in 1998 was 224.6 g and it declined in 2001 and 2005 to 190 g and 179.4 g , respectively ( p < 0.05 ) . for the rice intake category of adult men and women , the whole rice intake amount showed a decrease from in 1998 to in 2001 and 2005 ( p < 0.05 . the intake amount of ' polished rice ' was declined in 2001 for and 2005 from in 1998 . in the event of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' , the survey showed an increasing trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . and , regarding the rice intake amount of adult men and women the intake measurements of ' polished rice ' was shown to decline in 1998 to in 2001 and 2005 ( fig . the rice intake amount for each meal showed a decrease in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 for ' breakfast ' , ' lunch ' and ' dinner ' , and the place of meal preparation had a declining trend for ' home ' , ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' . in the case of rice consumption at each meal , breakfast , lunch , and dinner a decline was seen in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , but in the event of snacks , it increased beginning in 1998 . and , in the case of the rice intake amount of each place , home , ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' showed a decline in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . for the rice intake amount of each meal , each meal showed a steady decline in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , and for the rice intake category for each place for the meal , it displayed a declining trend in all places . the results of analyzing the rice intake amount trend for each age are shown on ( table 3 , 4 , fig . 1 , 2 ) and the extrapolated whole rice intake amount and intake amount of ' polished rice ' are analyzed from the data to have a declining trend of declining in all age divisions . whole rice intake amount in the rice consumption category of the ' 19 - 29 years old ' , was 210.8 g in 1998 and showed a steady decline in 2001 and 2005 to 174.1 g and 163.8 g , respectively , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was declined in 2001 and 2005 from beginning in 1998 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' showed an increasing trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . on the consumption amount of rice for each meal , all meals had declined in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , but in the event of ' snacks ' , it was shown to increase compared to 1998 . consumption of the least amount of rice was for ' breakfast ' while lunch had the highest rice consumption . for the rice intake consumption by place , ' home ' was the place with the greatest consumption , followed by ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' , and all places had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . in the age group ' 19 - 29 years old ' , the whole rice consumption amount and consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was lowest for all age classes , while rice consumption amount continued to decline each age category . the whole rice consumption data of the ' 30 - 49 ' age group in 1998 was 223.2 g and it declined to 187.7 g in 2001 and 173.9 g in 2005 ( p < 0.05 ) , and in the event of ' polished rice ' it was 1998 but showed a noticeable result with a decline in 2001 and 2005 by in 1998 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' was shown to increase from 1998 , and in the case of ' sticky rice ' , it declined in 2001 but increased in 2005 . in the rice consumption data for each meal , ' snack ' was shown to be the lowest consumption amount , and ' lunch ' had the largest consumption amount , and in all meals 2001 and 2005 had a decrease compared to 1998 ( fig . set for each place of meals , all places had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . ' home ' showed the most rice consumed and other places had the least consumption amount ( fig . the age group of ' 30 - 49 years old ' consumed more rice than the age class of ' 19 - 29 years old ' , and 2001 and 2005 showed a decreasing trend compared to 1998 . the whole rice consumption amount of the age group ' 50 - 64 ' in 1998 showed 238.4 g and in 2001 and fell to 207.1 g and in 2005 to 195.2 g with a declining trend each year ( p < 0.05 ) , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was reduced in 2001 and 2005 by 1998 . the consumption data of ' unpolished rice ' comparing 1998 to 2001 showed an increase of 9.2% , but in 2005 it did not show any noticeable change . in the rice consumption data for each meal , ' lunch ' had the highest rice consumption , and ' snack ' had the lowest rice consumption amount and in the case of the consumption amount for ' breakfast ' , different age class had more rice consumption than the amount of rice consumption in ' breakfast ' . for each meal , 2001 and 2005 showed a declining trend compared to 1998 , but in the event of ' snack ' , it was shown to increase ( fig . the rice consumption amount of ' home ' was the highest and ' other places ' was lowest , and in all places , 2001 and 2005 showed a declining trend compared to 1998 . the age group ' 50 - 64 ' consumed the most rice , but like other age classes , the whole rice consumption amount was in a declining trend ( fig . 6 ) . whole rice consumption data in the age group of ' 65 or older ' in 1998 was 233.9 g. this fell in 2001 to 194 g and in 2005 to 202.3 g , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' in 1998 was 253 g , which fell in 2001 , and 2005 ( p < 0.05 ) . unlike the trend of reduction each year for the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' of other age groups , the age group of ' 65 or older ' showed a higher consumption amount in 2005 than in 2001 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' reduced in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , and it showed differences with other age groups . in the rice consumption data set for each meal , lunch meals consumed the most rice and ' snacks ' had the lowest consumption overall , and all meals had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 ( fig . the rice consumption amount at ' home ' was the highest , and it was higher than the rice consumption amount at ' home ' out of any other age group . the rice consumption amount of other places was the lowest , and it declined at ' home ' and ' institution ' in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . the rice intake amount at ' other places ' increased by 14.9 g in 2001 compared to 1998 , but in 2005 , it was surveyed and decline by 14.5 g. the age group of ' 65 or older ' had the higher frequency of rice consumption at home compared to other age groups and the rice consumption at ' breakfast ' did not have much of a difference from the rice consumption amount of lunch and dinner , but the whole rice intake amount was shown to decline ( fig . 8) . under this study , the data of adults 19 years and older who responded to the food intake frequency survey ( 12 years old and older ) and the food intake survey ( survey of 24-hour recall method for each individual ) of the national health and nutrition surveys ( 1998 - 2005 ) was facilitated to implement cross analysis for 3 years following gender , age , education level , occupation , income , residence , marital status and eating - out frequency . looking into the general information of adults , under the gender of ( table 1 ) , men had 3,362 persons in 1998 , 3,265 persons in 2001 , and 2,946 persons in 2005 that 2005 had the most . in the case of women , there were 3,849 persons in 2001 which was more than 1998 and 2005 , and the ratio showed a higher rate for women than men ( p < 0.001 ) . for the age group ' 30 - 49 years old ' in 1998 had 46.4% , 2001 for 45.5% , and 2005 for 46.2% to show the highest , and 65 years old or more had the lowest ratio ( p < 0.001 ) . for regions , the highest number of respondents was from ' metropolitan ' areas and the least was from ' rural ' areas . the residents in ' metropolitan ' areas in 1998 was 48.3% which increased in 2001 by 12.3% , and eventually fell in 2005 by 0.5% ( the number of respondents in the ' middle & small cities ' , compared between 1998 and 2001 , showed a decrease of 7.1% and increase of 2.3% between 2001 and 2005 . respondents in ' rural ' regions , showed a decrease from 20.3% in 1998 to 5.3% and 1.8% in 2001 and 2005 , respectively , to display noticeable result ( p < 0.001 ) . looking into education level , a ' person with high school education ' was the most common respondent in 2001 and 2005 , excluding 1998 , and a person with college or higher education was the least common respondent on all 3 occasions . for household income , the ' low income class ' in 1998 was 34.6% and it decreased by 2001 to 15.7% and in 2005 it fell to 14.8% ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' middle class ' , accounted for 44.5% in 1998 and declined by 1.9% in 2001 and 6.1% in 2005 to display a noticeable result ( p < 0.001 ) . in the ' high income class ' , data showed a difference from 1998 to decline in 2001 to 17.6% and 2005 for 20.8% ( p < 0.001 ) . for occupation , all 3 years had more ' employed ' than ' unemployed ' , and both ' employed ' and ' unemployed ' had shown a noticeable result in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' employed ' group declined in 2001 by 2.4% compared to 1998 , but it increased in 2005 by 1.5% ( p < 0.001 ) , and in the event of the ' unemployed ' , it increased by 2.4% in 2001 from 40.3% of 1998 , but then decreased by 1.5% in 2006 ( p < 0.001 ) . looking into the marital status , all 3 years showed ' married ' with an 80% higher rate than ' unmarried ' and both ' married ' and ' unmarried ' displayed a noticeable result for 3 years ( p < 0.001 ) . the ' unmarried ' group were 18.1% in 1998 which increased in 2001 by 0.7% and 20005 by 2.4% ( p < 0.001 ) . but in the event of ' married ' , compared to 1998 , it declined in 2001 by 0.7% and in 2005 by 4.4% ( p < 0.001 ) . the rice intake amount of all korean adults is shown as in ( table 2 , fig . 1 ) . the whole rice intake amount in 1998 was 224.6 g and it declined in 2001 and 2005 to 190 g and 179.4 g , respectively ( p < 0.05 ) . for the rice intake category of adult men and women , the whole rice intake amount showed a decrease from in 1998 to in 2001 and 2005 ( p < 0.05 . the intake amount of ' polished rice ' was declined in 2001 for and 2005 from in 1998 . in the event of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' , the survey showed an increasing trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . and , regarding the rice intake amount of adult men and women the intake measurements of ' polished rice ' was shown to decline in 1998 to in 2001 and 2005 ( fig . the rice intake amount for each meal showed a decrease in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 for ' breakfast ' , ' lunch ' and ' dinner ' , and the place of meal preparation had a declining trend for ' home ' , ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' . in the case of rice consumption at each meal , breakfast , lunch , and dinner a decline was seen in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , but in the event of snacks , it increased beginning in 1998 . and , in the case of the rice intake amount of each place , home , ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' showed a decline in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . for the rice intake amount of each meal , each meal showed a steady decline in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , and for the rice intake category for each place for the meal , it displayed a declining trend in all places . the results of analyzing the rice intake amount trend for each age are shown on ( table 3 , 4 , fig . 1 , 2 ) and the extrapolated whole rice intake amount and intake amount of ' polished rice ' are analyzed from the data to have a declining trend of declining in all age divisions . whole rice intake amount in the rice consumption category of the ' 19 - 29 years old ' , was 210.8 g in 1998 and showed a steady decline in 2001 and 2005 to 174.1 g and 163.8 g , respectively , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was declined in 2001 and 2005 from beginning in 1998 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' showed an increasing trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . on the consumption amount of rice for each meal , all meals had declined in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , but in the event of ' snacks ' , it was shown to increase compared to 1998 . consumption of the least amount of rice was for ' breakfast ' while lunch had the highest rice consumption . for the rice intake consumption by place , ' home ' was the place with the greatest consumption , followed by ' institution ' , ' restaurant ' , and ' other places ' , and all places had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . in the age group ' 19 - 29 years old ' , the whole rice consumption amount and consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was lowest for all age classes , while rice consumption amount continued to decline each age category . the whole rice consumption data of the ' 30 - 49 ' age group in 1998 was 223.2 g and it declined to 187.7 g in 2001 and 173.9 g in 2005 ( p < 0.05 ) , and in the event of ' polished rice ' it was 1998 but showed a noticeable result with a decline in 2001 and 2005 by in 1998 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' was shown to increase from 1998 , and in the case of ' sticky rice ' , it declined in 2001 but increased in 2005 . in the rice consumption data for each meal , ' snack ' was shown to be the lowest consumption amount , and ' lunch ' had the largest consumption amount , and in all meals 2001 and 2005 had a decrease compared to 1998 ( fig . set for each place of meals , all places had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . ' home ' showed the most rice consumed and other places had the least consumption amount ( fig . the age group of ' 30 - 49 years old ' consumed more rice than the age class of ' 19 - 29 years old ' , and 2001 and 2005 showed a decreasing trend compared to 1998 . the whole rice consumption amount of the age group ' 50 - 64 ' in 1998 showed 238.4 g and in 2001 and fell to 207.1 g and in 2005 to 195.2 g with a declining trend each year ( p < 0.05 ) , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' was reduced in 2001 and 2005 by 1998 . the consumption data of ' unpolished rice ' comparing 1998 to 2001 showed an increase of 9.2% , but in 2005 it did not show any noticeable change . in the rice consumption data for each meal , ' lunch ' had the highest rice consumption , and ' snack ' had the lowest rice consumption amount and in the case of the consumption amount for ' breakfast ' , different age class had more rice consumption than the amount of rice consumption in ' breakfast ' . for each meal , 2001 and 2005 showed a declining trend compared to 1998 , but in the event of ' snack ' , it was shown to increase ( fig . the rice consumption amount of ' home ' was the highest and ' other places ' was lowest , and in all places , 2001 and 2005 showed a declining trend compared to 1998 . the age group ' 50 - 64 ' consumed the most rice , but like other age classes , the whole rice consumption amount was in a declining trend ( fig . whole rice consumption data in the age group of ' 65 or older ' in 1998 was 233.9 g. this fell in 2001 to 194 g and in 2005 to 202.3 g , and the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' in 1998 was 253 g , which fell in 2001 , and 2005 ( p < 0.05 ) . unlike the trend of reduction each year for the consumption amount of ' polished rice ' of other age groups , the age group of ' 65 or older ' showed a higher consumption amount in 2005 than in 2001 . the consumption amount of ' unpolished rice ' and ' sticky rice ' reduced in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 , and it showed differences with other age groups . in the rice consumption data set for each meal , lunch meals consumed the most rice and ' snacks ' had the lowest consumption overall , and all meals had a declining trend in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 ( fig . the rice consumption amount at ' home ' was the highest , and it was higher than the rice consumption amount at ' home ' out of any other age group . the rice consumption amount of other places was the lowest , and it declined at ' home ' and ' institution ' in 2001 and 2005 compared to 1998 . the rice intake amount at ' other places ' increased by 14.9 g in 2001 compared to 1998 , but in 2005 , it was surveyed and decline by 14.5 g. the age group of ' 65 or older ' had the higher frequency of rice consumption at home compared to other age groups and the rice consumption at ' breakfast ' did not have much of a difference from the rice consumption amount of lunch and dinner , but the whole rice intake amount was shown to decline ( fig . 8) . this study analyzed trends in korean adults ' rice intake during the period from 1998 to 2005 , and found that whole rice intake was decreasing every year . in the results of this study , rice intake was decreasing in similar patterns for both men and women , and similar decreasing trends were observed in each age category as well . what is more , rice was consumed more at lunch and dinner than in breakfast among the meals , and households consumed the largest amount of rice by place of meal preparation . the decreasing trend in rice intake was similar between men and women and in all age groups , but the rate of rice intake at home was higher in older age groups . in the study on one - portion size foods frequently eaten by korean adults as well , rice intake per person decreased every year and the one - portion size of rice taken by koreans reached 80 g in 2005 , showing a result similar to the decreasing rice consumption found in this study . the results of this study showed that korean people 's rice intake had been decreasing every year since the late 1990s . this trend was also observed in other countries consuming rice as a staple food . according to a study that analyzed trends in annual rice intake per household in jiangsu province , china during the period from 1995 to 2007 , rice consumption decreased steadily from 71.3 kg in 1995 to 56.2 kg in 2000 and 50.2 kg in 2007 . with regard to trends in annual rice intake per person in other asian countries using rice as a staple food , annual rice intake was found to have decreased from 65.1 kg in 1999 to 61.4 kg in japan ( data from maff : ministry of agriculture , forestry and fisheries in japan ) , from 54.9 kg in 1999 to 48.6 kg in 2005 in taiwan ( data from taiwan food balance sheet ) , and from 96.9 kg in 1999 to 80.7 kg in 2005 in korea ( fig . 9 ) . summing up these previous studies , korea is still consuming a larger amount of rice than japan and taiwan , but the rate of decrease is higher than that in japan and taiwan . considering the fast rate of decrease in rice intake in korea compared to other asian countries consuming rice as their staple food , it is necessary to enact campaigns and dietary life education programs to promote rice consumption . different from asian countries where rice intake is going down , western regions like the u.s . and europe show an increasing trend in the intake of grains including rice as reported by several studies on the trends of rice intake . according to a study on americans ' rice intake during the periods between 1994 - 1996 ( data from csfii ) and between 2001 - 2002 ( data from nhanes ) , the proportion of people taking rice over 1/4 cup a day ( 14.1 g in dry weight ) increased from 17.4% in 1994 - 1996 to 18.2% in 2001 - 2002 , and the proportion of those not eating rice decreased from 78.8% to 77.3% , showing a general trend of increase in rice intake among the american population . in a study on 10 years ' intake of foods and nutrients by australians aged over 60 , on the contrary , the intake of bread and cereal decreased from 239 g in 1992 - 1994 ( baseline ) to 229 g and 222 g , respectively , in 1997 - 1999 and 2002 - 2004 among men , and from 218 g in 1992 - 1994 to 212 g ( 1997 - 1999 ) and 209 g ( 2002 - 2004 ) among women , showing a decreasing trend in the consumption of bread and cereal among both men and women . in the results of this study , rice consumption by restaurants went down from 141.4 g in 1998 to 109.4 g in 2001 and up to 110.7 g in 2005 , but whole rice intake decreased compared to the baseline level in 1998 . this was similar to the previous report that the consumption of rice , which had been used as the main nutrition source , decreased naturally as a result of the westernization of restaurant menus in asian countries , the diversification of foods replacing rice as the sole staple food , and the increasing frequency of dining - out . when studies on rice consumption in korea were reviewed , rice consumption decreased gradually as a result of food culture being westernized since the 1990s and increasingly frequent dining - outs , and rice intake was lowest among women in their 20s-30s who dine out more frequently than other age groups . studies on factors influencing rice intake reported that the type and amount of rice consumed were influenced by factors such as race , gender , age , area , economic level , and lifestyle . a study on rice consumption by asian immigrants living in houston and texas found that the preferred variety and quality of rice were different according to the consumer 's income . according to another study on americans ' rice intake during the periods 1994 - 1996 and 2001 - 2002 , the proportion of people eating rice over 1/4 cup a day was largest as 30.2% among hispanics , and 23.6% , 23.4% and 14.2% , respectively , among blacks , mexican americans , and caucasians . in a study that surveyed american people 's rice intake according to education level , the proportion of rice eaters was largest as 21.0% among middle school graduates or lower , and 19.3% and 13.5% , respectively , among two - year college graduates and high school graduates . in another survey on rice consumption according to age by asian immigrants living in houston and texas in the 1990s , young consumers influenced by western culture preferred jasmine - type rice but consumed rice less than adult immigrants . in this study as well , korean people 's rice intake was higher in older people as reported similarly in previous studies . in many studies , on the other hand , socio - economic environment was found to influence food intake . the meal skipping rate increased and rice consumption decreased considerably in korea with the imf crisis in december , 1997 , but the meal skipping rate went down sharply along with economic recovery . in the same way , korean people 's vegetable intake decreased in 1998 and then increased gradually with economic recovery . according to a study that surveyed indonesian pregnant women 's dietary habits during the economic crisis between 1996 - 1998 , the number of women avoiding beneficial food was 3 among urban pregnant women and 53 among rural pregnant women before the economic crisis but the numbers decreased to 2 and 47 , respectively , during the economic crisis . in this study on korean people 's rice intake , the decreasing trend in rice intake was observed in all age groups and rice intake was lowest in the age group of 20 - 30s and highest in the group aged over 65 . in a study that surveyed the american population consuming grains during the period 1990 - 1992 , the proportion of those taking grain food 3 - 3.99 times a day was 23.4% among adults aged over 19 , lower than 35.7% in the age group of 2 - 18 and 26.1% in the infant group younger than 2 . in this study , the amount and ratio of rice consumption were different among meals . in general , the amount was lowest at in breakfast and larger in lunch and dinner , but in the age groups of 50 - 64 and over 65 , rice intake was little different among the meals and was larger than that in other age groups . the results of the data suggest that the declining trends in korean adults ' rice consumption can be related to the tendency to skip breakfast altogether or the abundance of substitute breakfast foods ie.bread and other cereal grain . moreover , rice consumption was lowest in the age group of 19 - 29 showing the highest tendencies to skip breakfast of all age division , and was highest in the age group of 50 - 64 who hardly skip breakfast . in a study on korean people 's vegetable intake as well , breakfast skipping in every category influenced the group 's vegetable consumption and the same result was reported on the breakfast skipping rate by age group . according to the results of analysis in this study , this trend was considered to be influenced by several the factors of the possibility of changed food culture , socio - economic phenomena , and other external factors . but there is a limitation in the diversity of comparative studies on rice intake in connection to changed dietary life environment , socio - economic factors and other related factors . thus , more advanced research on food intake and change should be conducted in consideration of various socio - economic factors of subjects and countries based on various previous studies on rice intake .