Children's Fruit Intake During Korea's 2024 Price Shock: Evidence from Home and Institutional Settings
##semicolon##
https://doi.org/10.26821/ijsrc.14.10.2026.141005##semicolon##
Children##common.commaListSeparator## Fruit intake##common.commaListSeparator## Food prices##common.commaListSeparator## School meals##common.commaListSeparator## Childcare##common.commaListSeparator## KNHANESसार
The fresh fruit price index in Korea was 28% to 41% higher than 12 months before from January through April 2024 due to low harvests of apples and pears. This study focused on how much fruit children aged 1 to 9 consumed during the price shock, and whether fruit consumed at home and at school or childcare changed in the same way. We analysed single 24-hour dietary recalls from 6,225 children in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2015 to 2024. Using survey-weighted regressions adjusted for age and sex, we compared 2024 with the mean of 2022 and 2023 (the only years collected with the same methods) and two additional baselines, and conducted placebo tests on earlier years. Children ate 151.2 g/day of fruit in 2022 to 2023 and 112.6 g/day in 2024 (−39.6 g/day, 95% CI −63.7 to −15.4). Fruit eaten at home dropped by 40.9 g/day (−65.2 to −16.6). This drop was larger than in any previous year and was seen under all three baselines, while fruit consumption at school or childcare remained at approximately 15 g/day. The percentage of children eating any fruit hardly changed, and much of the decrease was due to apples. Exploratory results suggest the home decrease was more pronounced among children aged 6 to 9, but the age difference was not statistically significant. As fruit supply in childcare and schools was steady, regular fruit snacks with budgets that can match the price may help support children's diets when prices increase.
##submission.citations##
[1]. S. Choi, “Korea's apple update,” USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Seoul, GAIN Rep. KS2023-0022, Dec. 21, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Korea's+Apple+Update_Seoul_Korea+-+Republic+of_KS2023-0022.pdf
[2]. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, “South Korea: fresh deciduous fruit annual,” GAIN Rep. KS2023-0021, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/south-korea-fresh-deciduous-fruit-annual-6
[3]. Newsis, “Consumer prices in January 2024” (in Korean), Feb. 2, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20240130_0002610288
[4]. Newsis, “Consumer prices in February 2024” (in Korean), Mar. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20240306_0002650761
[5]. Aju Business Daily, “Consumer prices in March 2024” (in Korean), Apr. 2, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.ajunews.com/view/20240402082730690
[6]. Hankyung Business, “Consumer prices in April 2024” (in Korean), May 2, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202405020985b
[7]. Jaegyeong Ilbo, “Consumer prices in 2024” (in Korean), Dec. 31, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://news.jkn.co.kr/post/850278
[8]. Jeonbuk Ilbo, “Tariff-free quotas for imported fruit” (in Korean), Mar. 18, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.jjan.kr/article/20240318580262
[9]. World Health Organization, “WHO updates guidelines on fats and carbohydrates,” News release, Jul. 17, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/news/item/17-07-2023-who-updates-guidelines-on-fats-and-carbohydrates
[10]. H.-J. Brinkman, S. de Pee, I. Sanogo, L. Subran, and M. W. Bloem, “High food prices and the global financial crisis have reduced access to nutritious food and worsened nutritional status and health,” J. Nutr., vol. 140, no. 1, pp. 153S-161S, 2010.
[11]. H. Patrick and T. A. Nicklas, “A review of family and social determinants of children's eating patterns and diet quality,” J. Am. Coll. Nutr., vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 83-92, 2005.
[12]. V. Mikkilä, L. Räsänen, O. T. Raitakari, P. Pietinen, and J. Viikari, “Consistent dietary patterns identified from childhood to adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study,” Br. J. Nutr., vol. 93, no. 6, pp. 923-931, 2005, doi: 10.1079/BJN20051418.
[13]. S. I. Won, “Investigation of facility directors and parents' awareness of some childcare center meal service in Chungcheongnam-do,” J. FoodService Safety, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 29-34, 2023 (in Korean), doi: 10.22960/JFSS.2023.4.29.
[14]. Newsis, “Standard childcare cost last year 760,000 won, up 21% from three years earlier” (in Korean), Mar. 30, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20230330_0002248003
[15]. Pressian, “Real income falls by the most in seven years in the first quarter as high prices continue” (in Korean), May 23, 2024. Reporting Statistics Korea's Household Income and Expenditure Survey. [Online]. Available: https://pressian.com/pages/articles/2024052314430090705
[16]. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Korea Health Statistics 2024, ch. 9, Food intake, trend tables 9-9 and 9-11, Dec. 31, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.korea.kr/briefing/pressReleaseView.do?newsId=156737607
[17]. T. Andreyeva, M. W. Long, and K. D. Brownell, “The impact of food prices on consumption: a systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food,” Am. J. Public Health, vol. 100, no. 2, pp. 216-222, 2010.
[18]. R. Green, L. Cornelsen, A. D. Dangour, R. Turner, B. Shankar, M. Mazzocchi, et al., “The effect of rising food prices on food consumption: systematic review with meta-regression,” BMJ, vol. 346, Art. no. f3703, 2013.
[19]. S. A. Block, L. Kiess, P. Webb, S. Kosen, R. Moench-Pfanner, M. W. Bloem, et al., “Macro shocks and micro outcomes: child nutrition during Indonesia's crisis,” Econ. Hum. Biol., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 21-44, 2004.
[20]. R. Sturm and A. Datar, “Body mass index in elementary school children, metropolitan area food prices and food outlet density,” Public Health, vol. 119, no. 12, pp. 1059-1068, 2005.
[21]. The Food Foundation, “Families stuck in food insecurity are buying less fruit and veg,” Press release, Feb. 27, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/press-release/families-stuck-food-insecurity-are-buying-less-fruit-and-veg-uks-health-divide-widens
[22]. R. Griffith, M. O'Connell, and K. Smith, “Shopping around: how households adjusted food spending over the Great Recession,” Economica, vol. 83, no. 330, pp. 247-280, 2016, doi: 10.1111/ecca.12166.
[23]. T. L. Ásgeirsdóttir, H. Corman, K. Noonan, Þ. Ólafsdóttir, and N. E. Reichman, “Was the economic crisis of 2008 good for Icelanders? Impact on health behaviors,” Econ. Hum. Biol., vol. 13, pp. 1-19, 2014.
[24]. Herald Economy, “Apples disappear from daycare centres and fruit replaces flowers as gifts: fruit prices change how people buy” (in Korean), Apr. 4, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.heraldk.com/article/2024040416002637976
[25]. A. Øvrum and E. Bere, “Evaluating free school fruit: results from a natural experiment in Norway with representative data,” Public Health Nutr., vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 1224-1231, 2014, doi: 10.1017/S1368980013002504.
[26]. Kyeonggi Ilbo, “Government resumes fruit snacks for first and second graders, covering about 600,000 children” (in Korean), Mar. 9, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.kyeonggi.com/article/20260309580121
[27]. Financial News, “Cup fruit snacks for primary school pupils to resume next year, covering 600,000 first and second graders” (in Korean), Aug. 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.fnnews.com/news/202508260530566453
[28]. S. Y. Kim, J. H. Freeland-Graves, and H. J. Kim, “Twenty-year trends in vegetable consumption by preparation method and eating location for Korean population from 1998 to 2017,” Br. J. Nutr., vol. 126, no. 5, pp. 747-756, 2021.
[29]. K. Oh, S. Park, S. Park, S. Yun, H. Choi, and E. K. Jeong, “Changes in food and nutrient intakes in Korean adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: data from the 2011-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,” Epidemiol. Health, vol. 45, 2023.
[30]. J. L. Bernal, S. Cummins, and A. Gasparrini, “Interrupted time series regression for the evaluation of public health interventions: a tutorial,” Int. J. Epidemiol., vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 348-355, 2017.
[31]. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Raw Data User Guides, 6th (2013-2015), 7th (2016-2018), 8th (2019-2021) and 9th (2022-2024) cycles.
[32]. S. Kweon, Y. Kim, M. J. Jang, Y. Kim, K. Kim, S. Choi, et al., “Data resource profile: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES),” Int. J. Epidemiol., vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 69-77, 2014.
[33]. E. von Elm, D. G. Altman, M. Egger, S. J. Pocock, P. C. Gøtzsche, and J. P. Vandenbroucke, “The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies,” Lancet, vol. 370, no. 9596, pp. 1453-1457, 2007.
[34]. C. Lachat, D. Hawwash, M. C. Ocké, C. Berg, E. Forsum, A. Hörnell, et al., “Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology-Nutritional Epidemiology (STROBE-nut): an extension of the STROBE statement,” PLoS Med., vol. 13, no. 6, Art. no. e1002036, 2016.
[35]. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, “Apple and pear production in 2024 up 10.4% on the previous year” (in Korean), Press release, Dec. 23, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.mafra.go.kr/bbs/home/792/583978/download.do
[36]. Diplomacy Journal, “Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announces results of the 2025 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey” (in Korean), Sep. 30, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.djournal.co.kr/news/article.html?no=120849
[37]. J. P. Mackenbach and A. E. Kunst, “Measuring the magnitude of socio-economic inequalities in health: an overview of available measures illustrated with two examples from Europe,” Soc. Sci. Med., vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 757-771, 1997.
##submission.downloads##
प्रकाशित
अंक
खंड
##submission.license##
##submission.copyrightStatement##
##submission.license.cc.by4.footer##