Changes in Teaching about Picky Eaters and Likes and Dislikes in School Lunches

— Positioning in Post-War School Education —

Abstract

  The contents of the Courses of Study and the School Lunch Guidance Manual are summarized with regard to the guidance on ‘picky eaters, likes and dislikes’ in school lunches. Since the 1952 edition of the Courses of Study, the primary schools guidance manuals or ‘handbooks’ published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) have included the concept of eating without likes and dislikes, and since 1992, guidance on nutritionally balanced meals has been provided. As a result, knowledge on the importance of a nutritionally balanced diet has become established. On the other hand, guidance on picky eating and likes and dislikes was seen as a subject for individual counselling and guidance, and content that should be considered so that it does not become mandatory guidance. The inference that a nutritionally balanced diet was taught both in groups and individually suggests that children were aware of the need to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, regardless of personal likes and dislikes. Future guidance on picky eating and likes and dislikes will be more effective if individual guidance is consistently provided as part of school education. Group guidance focusing on a ‘balanced diet’ with an emphasis on ‘increasing the number of foods liked’, while acknowledging that individual preferences may include both like and dislikes, will also be beneficial.