Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of dietary education using the “Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top” (J-FGST) on high school students.
The students in the study numbered 155 (4 classes) of the first-year students of public high school in Fukuoka. They were divided into 2 groups : an “education group” and a “control group”. Before the dietary education took place, two questionnaires were administered to all students in October 2009, which considered dietary habits (100-point scale) and awareness of dietary matters and health.
Subsequently, 76 students attended a lesson utilizing J-FGST for 50 minutes, and then answered questionnaire surveys to determine their understanding at the end of the lesson. Six months later all subjects were given the same surveys and the changes in their dietary knowledge and attitudes were compared.
As for the results, the education group showed greater knowledge and improvement in dietary behavior than did the control group. The group scoring less than 70 points on the previous survey concerning simple dietary matters had significantly higher scores（13.3 points）six months later.
It can be suggested that dietary education utilizing J-FGST led to an improvement in awareness and attitudes concerning healthy dietary habits among high school students. The education was particularly effective for the students who had poor dietary awareness.
