Association between Mealtime Dietary Education at Home and Lifestyle Factors in Elementary and Junior High School Students

Abstract

In 418 third- through sixth-grade students at Elementary School N in Osaka City (218 boys and 200 girls) and all 567 students at Junior High School S in Osaka City (281 boys and 286 girls), a self-administered questionnaire was conducted to ascertain the consumption status of school lunch in one day in December 2017 (rice, milk, chicken teriyaki, miso soup, and daikon stew), lifestyle habits, mealtime dietary education at home, and early childhood experience with school lunches/daycare meals. With a focus on mealtime dietary education at home, its associations with lifestyle habits and early childhood experience with school lunches/daycare meals were analyzed and investigated.

Dietary education, such as various mealtime manners the students received during meals at home, was shown to be associated with exercise habits, breakfast habits, and early childhood experiences with school lunches/daycare meals. Both elementary and junior high school students who possessed proactive exercise habits were indicated to have received various dietary education during meals at home. Giving guidance and providing educational activities on the association between exercise and physical/mental health were suggested to be linked to the awareness of health at home and improvement in eating behavior. In order to cultivate a healthy minds and bodies of the students, and establish desirable lifestyle habits by increasing the interest in dietary education at home, a reform of the dietary environment during early childhood with consideration for the family’s socioeconomic status is important.