Assessment of food group intake in Korean population with a newly developed food group database

The aim of this study was to establish a food group database for Korean foods and to assess food group intake in Korean population by sex and age group. The newly developed database consisted of 4370 foods and provided common serving size and number of food group servings per 100 g of each food for six food groups (i.e. grains, meat–fish–eggs–beans, vegetables, fruits, milk-dairy products, and oils–fats–sugars). The common serving size referred to the Korean Food Guidance System (KFGS), Korean dish recipes, and other references. Consumed number of food group servings were calculated with a single 24-h recall dietary data of 16,492 subjects (≥3 years) from the 2009–2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and compared with a recommendation from the KFGS by sex and age group. Mean intake level of fruits did not reach the recommendation in adolescents and adult men and mean intake of milk-dairy products was the least likely to meet the recommendation in all the sex and age groups. Mean intake level of oils–fats–sugars was higher compared to the recommendations across all the sex and age groups, with the exception of older adults. The database from this study may be useful to guide and assess food group intake in the Korean population.