Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why elementary and secondary school students in Kyushu decide what to eat for lunch. The data were obtained by questionnaire. Eleven questions were designed to examine their decision-making priority 'when they prepare lunch by themselves on holidays' followed by 15 open-ended questions inviting free response. Another purpose of the questionnaire is to acquire suggestions for designing lesson plans on students' decision-making process for their diet. The results are as follows: Their top priority is the fact that they are allowed to COOK FOR THEMSELVES. It is to be noted, however, that various types of decision-making are seen depending on their grades as well as gender difference. It is found that the variety is caused by difference in their background: 1) THE LIMITED ABILITY TO COOK of mostly those in the elementary school naturally leads to simple dishes such as EGG MENU and A LA CARTE DISHES as well as INSTANT FOOD. 2) Students, who are accustomed to convenience and efficiency in everyday life, tend to show little interest in quality of food, amount of consumption and safety of diet. 3) What characterizes the female students is their trait or efforts not to gain weight especially in their adolescence. For students to acquire knowledge and skills so as to make right choice in their diet, the findings suggest how lesson plans should be designed and how teachers should interact with students.
