2022 Volume 73 Issue 7 Pages 387-401
The purpose of this study is to address issues on how to deal with food allergies during cooking practice by junior high school home economics teachers, and on the current organizational structures related to food allergies in schools.
A questionnaire survey was conducted by post between November 2019 and February 2020, targeting home economics teachers working at junior high schools in the Sapporo area. Of the 144 questionnaire surveys distributed to public and private junior high schools, 63 questionnaires were collected (collection rate: 43.8%).
The results were as follows: Only 30.1% of junior high schools had organizational structures related to food allergies in school. A total of 55.6% of home economics teachers were aware of the number of students with food allergy symptoms. Home economics teachers whose support in addressing food allergies during cooking practice had been solicited by students' parents tended to conduct cooking practice based on common menus that all students could eat, regardless of whether or not they had food allergy symptoms. A large proportion of home economics teachers (76.2%) felt that textbooks should include examples of cooking practice that take food allergies into consideration.
Currently, schools place a strong emphasis on addressing food allergies in school lunch programs; however, in order to protect the safety of students and to ensure equal opportunities in education, schools need to establish organizational structures related to addressing food allergies in home economics cooking practice. Thus, in the future, there is a need to reduce the burden on home economics teachers in cooking practice, and to develop and disseminate cooking practice topics that address food allergies.
