Abstract
Japanese people learn the basics of nutrition in elementary and secondary education and further deepen their knowledge in higher education. However, there is no survey research to clarify how much knowledge on vitamins Japanese people have obtained from nutrition in these educations. We attempted to clarify the degree of establishment of vitamin learning in elementary and secondary education and the situation of vitamin learning in higher education by investigating the degree of recognition of vitamin-related terms for college students. The recognition of 37 words of vitamin-related terms described in the textbooks of home economics and science in elementary, junior high, and high schools was examined for 1,134 students enrolled in university or junior college. The vitamin-related terms included 13 words of vitamins, 8 words of the chemical names of vitamins, 9 words of provitamins, and 7 words of coenzymes. Students majoring in the food-related field showed a high degree of recognition of vitamin-related terms and had a certain level of knowledge on the physiological effects of vitamins and vitamin-rich foods. On the other hand, students majoring in other fields had a low degree of recognition of vitamins, and their Nnowledge on the physiological effects of vitamins and vitamin-rich foods was poor. These results suggest that little knowledge on the physiological effects of vitamins and foods rich in vitamins has been obtained in elementary and secondary education, although vitamin learning in higher education is effective.
