Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to shed light on the status-quo of the nutrition education and find clues for a rationalized and systematized curriculum of the home economics education. The textbooks of the Japanese home economics of three schooling levels were chosen to approach the issue. The description and the usage of terms regarding lipid nutrition shown in the textbooks were the central focus for the analysis. Analysis showed that the home economics textbooks from elementary to high school level have neglected the development of the coherent curriculum structure for the adequate nutrition education. Textbooks at junior high school only little develop the primary contents described at elementary school while high school textbooks give rather complicated and segmented knowledge. The chapters of nutrition in most high school textbooks are divided into several segments such as nutrient, food, and cooking with less holistic view on lipid nutrition. The terms, 'lipids' and 'fat', are not adequately used in some of the high school textbooks. The textbooks at each school level tend not to properly distinguish fat as a nutrient and fat as a body component. These should clearly be explained in future textbooks. Poor explanation of digestion, absorption and metabolism of food and nutrients were found in the textbooks of each level so that it is difficult for the students to understand the necessity of nutrients for the healthier and better food behavior. The result suggests that the home economics curriculum in junior high school should be reconsidered and revised as a sequential process based on the elementary level education. In the high school level textbooks, not only the refined and systematized contents of lipid nutrition but the integrated explanation of food behavior as a related whole should be included. Home economics textbooks also should give more detailed explanation concerning the physiological aspect of food intake to effectively inform recommended amount of each nutrient.
