2002 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 65-77
In order to gather data about food- or nutrition-related topics that ordinary people consider significant, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 1, 565 males and females over 17 years of age. Participants were given a list of 15 items to choose, from; (1) the item they desired to learn about and (2) the items the inclusion of which they deemed necessary in the school curriculum. Overall, the highest preference among learning topics was “what to eat to prevent diseases.” Percentages of their selection of topics for inclusion in the school curriculum showed a significant correlation with that of topics preferred for learning. However, it should be pointed out that the former was generally higher than the latter. Ordinary people considered that the curriculum should mainly consist of Food Safety, Food Nutrient Characteristics, and Functions of Nutrients. These may be effectively taught through cooking classes, which happened to be the most popular topic selected by younger respondents.
