Relationship Between Elementary School Meals and Communities: Examining School Lunch Systems and Dietary Education

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between school meals and communities. We provide an overview of the changes in the role of school meals served in public elementary schools in Japan and examine which school lunch systems the Japanese municipalities choose, or how actively they impart dietary education to children through local foods or dishes. The results are as follows: First, the School Lunch Act in 2008 required schools to provide children with dietary education through using local foods and dishes in school meals. Second, 24.3% of Japanese municipalities have on-site kitchens for public elementary school meals, 57.8% have off-site kitchens, and 18.0% have both types of kitchens. While a number of municipalities in the Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Sanin regions have off-site kitchens, not all rural regions do, and some metropolitan regions also have off-site kitchens. Third, more than 80% of municipalities in the Kinki, Hokuriku, and Chugoku area use local ingredients in school meals, while only 20–40% of municipalities provide additional dietary education about the region through school meals. Moreover, while some prefectures actively impart dietary education, others do not. Fourth, there is suitable dietary education, depending on the school lunch system and the number of schoolchildren. Fifth, mergers of municipalities, the financial capability index, the number of schoolchildren, and the distribution of public elementary schools influenced, if not decisively, school lunch systems and dietary education.