This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of meal patterns among Koreans of different age groups. The study subjects consisted of preschool children (PC), elementary school children (EC), high school students (HS), college students (CS), and adults over 30 years old living in Seoul and the surrounding areas. A dietary survey was conducted using 24-hour recall method from 1996-1998 and data were collected from 2392 subjects. The subjects over 30 years old were classified as 30∼49 years, 50∼69 years, and over 70 years. EC, HS, and CS groups consumed less than 20％ of their total energy intake from breakfast. PC and EC consumed over 30％ of their energy from snacks. In all age groups, the proportion of subjects who skipped a meal was highest for breakfast and lowest for dinner. Especially, 31.4％ of the CS group skipped breakfast. Breakfast and snacks provided higher quality meals than the others when each meal was assessed by the index of nutritional quality (INQ). Especially, lunch of the HS group, each meal of the EC group and subjects over 70 years of age had a lower diet quality than the others did. The major snack items for PC, EC, HS, and CS groups were milk, ice cream, and snack cakes, but those for subjects over 30 years of age were fruits. The PC group obtained 35.5％ of their energy from snacks, but the proportion of snack energy decreased with increasing age. PC and EC groups obtained a great proportion of calcium, vitamin B2, fat, and cholesterol intake from snacks. Snack foods provided 53.2％, 42.4％, 45.4％, and 24.6％ of those nutrients, respectively, for the PC group and 54.2％, 43.5％, 37.4％, and 26.8％, respectively, for the EC group. These results suggested that each age group had specific meal patterns. Especially, breakfast and snack intake seemed to complement overall diet quality. However, more intervention is needed to improve overall dietary nutrition, e.g., efforts to decrease fat and cholesterol proportion and increase breakfast consumption. These dietary characteristics among different age groups present foundation data for the development of methods to resolve the nutritional problems of each age group.