Issues in children’s food mastication or preference, such as those who “do not chew,” “do not swallow,” or “do not follow a balanced diet,” are recently causing concerns, and the problem of children with insufficient masticatory behavior demands immediate attention.

Children who cannot chew properly are becoming a problem; at the same time, food texture preferences of children in terms of food hardness have not been elucidated yet, such as whether they prefer hard or soft foods. In this study, 363 preschool children participated in individual selection task experiments regarding food texture preferences. The results indicated no significant differences in texture selection according to the children’s age, suggesting that they did not necessarily prefer food with a mushy texture. Regarding the choice among biscuits of three different hardness levels, the result showed significant differences in children’s ages, suggesting that the perception of food texture preferences, such as the preference for the hardness of biscuits, would be differentiated during the preschool period of children.

The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively examine the relationship between eating habits in the home of elementary school children and factors related to their parentsʼ eating attitudes including the home environment. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed using the responses of 501 people in their 20 s to 50s who lived in Ishikawa Prefecture and had children of elementary school age as data.

The results of the analysis include the following. Children were less likely to be picky when their parents talked more about school lunches (p < 0.001), when they valued homemade tastes (p < 0.05), and when they gave snacks less frequently (p < 0.01). The more parents talked with their children about school lunches (p < 0.001), the more they valued opportunities to eat homemade foods (p < 0.01) and local products (p < 0.05), and the less frequent snacks given (p < 0.01), the less likely their children were to leave leftovers. The more parents talked with their children about school lunches (p < 0.001) and the more they valued the taste of homemade meals (p < 0.01), the more likely their children were to give thanks at meal time. The more frequently parents talked about school meals with their children (p < 0.001), the more likely children were to help with meals when their mothers were employed (p < 0.01). Single mother families, families of three or more generations, and annual household income did not significantly affect childrenʼs eating habits.

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.

This study compared the outcomes of face-to-face and distance nutrition education among elementary and junior high school athletes during the coronavirus pandemic. The goal of nutrition education was to help junior athletes to build a body suitable for a growing athlete. The junior athletes were sorted into two groups, those receiving face-to-face nutrition education and those receiving distance nutrition education. All the junior athletes received tailored nutrition education after receiving an explanation that they should eat a well-balanced diet suited to their needs. The results showed significantly higher calcium and vitamin C intake among elementary school athletes in the face-to-face group (p<0.05), and significantly higher fruit intake among junior high school athletes in the face-to-face group (p<0.05). Furthermore, this experiment revealed that junior athletes in both groups had a high level of achievement if they set their own action goals, which suggested the importance of devising a method of nutrition education that enables the learner to set appropriate nutrition-related goals. Utilizing a self-checklist was also found to be an effective method for supporting continued behavior modification in both education groups. The findings of this study suggest that a strong educational outcome to maintain and improve health can be expected even during the coronavirus pandemic, by implementing nutrition education that takes these points into consideration.