2021 Volume 79 Issue 5 Pages 302-310
Objective: This study aimed to clarify the realities of food knowledge, concern, cooking skills, and subjective evaluations of food in relation to level of interest in dietary education among high school students in Osaka.
Methods: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 686 high school students. Questions were asked on the "level of interest in dietary education" ("Do you know what dietary education is?" "Do you have access to information about dietary education?" "Are you interested in dietary education?" "Is dietary education necessary for you?"). The responses were extracted by factor analysis, and the subjects were divided into two groups, those with high and low levels of interest in dietary education. The responses to each question item were also divided according to the two groups, and the distributions of the responses of the high- and low-interest groups were compared using the χ2 test.
Results: ompared with the low-interest group, there were significantly higher percentages of subjects in the high-interest group who had knowledge about food (nutritional balance, food labeling, special foods for events, etc.), were concerned about their dietary habits, and could cook, and the percentages of those who thought meals were satisfying and enjoyable were also higher. On the other hand, there was a high percentage of subjects in the low-interest group who consumed cereals and vegetables only once a day or less.
Conclusions: There appears to be a relationship between the "level of interest in dietary education" and the realities of food knowledge, concern, cooking skills, and subjective evaluations of food among high school students.
