Abstract
In order to provide a sound diet for nursery school children and also find measures for alleviating the burdens on guardians in charge of cooking meals, the authors surveyed the guardians’ involvement in the diet of nursery school children. A questionnaire survey was conducted, targeting 1,653 guardians of nursery school toddlers attending 18 facilities in the Miyagi Prefecture. 985 guardians answered the questionnaire (collection rate: 59.6%), and 980 guardians were analyzed (effective collection rate: 59.3%). The author first classified the nursery school children into the Junior Group and the Senior Group, and conducted an analysis, and then obtained the following results : 1) For both groups, more than 95% of the mothers were in charge of cooking the meals, but the ratio of fathers who cook meals was 19.3% for the Junior Group and 7.4% for the Senior Group. Other than the parents, maternal and paternal grandmothers often cook meals. 2) Among the guardians who cook meals, 51.6% complained of mental stress for the Junior Group and 39.6% for the Senior Group. 3) In the space for describing “Troubles with the diet of young children,” 31.3% wrote something about the Junior Group and 36.6% about the Senior Group. 4) 36.3% of the guardians who cook meals complained of mental stress about cooking meals for nursery school children. 5) For both groups, the guardians paid careful attention to nutrition, seasoning, and other items regarding the diet of nursery school children, and taught their children about diet based on the age of the children.
