The status of shokuiku activities in nursery schools during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Abstract

　To investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on shokuiku activities in nursery schools, a mail-based questionnaire survey was conducted in June 2022 targeting 1157 nursery schools in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The valid response rate was 44.5%, and data collected from 515 nursery schools were used in the analysis. According to the results, 87.4% of the nursery schools indicated that changes had occurred in shokuiku activities conducted at their nursery schools. In 99.1% of the nursery schools that experienced changes, a reduction in shokuiku activities (e.g. cooking programs) was observed. However, rather than keeping the activities at a reduced level, 20.0% of the nursery schools had introduced and implemented new activities such as shokuiku activities using teaching materials, cooking at the individual level, and shokuiku using information and communication technology. In an attempt to return the activities to pre-COVID-19 levels, the implementation rate of shokuiku activities in the 2022 academic year increased, especially in areas such as cooking programs, horticulture activities, activities outside nursery schools, and community-based shokuiku programs compared to the 2021 academic year. In addition, the frequency of implementing shokuiku activities varied by category.

　Despite changes in shokuiku activities in nursery schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these activities (e.g. event food programs, shokuiku activities for parents) were still ongoing.