This study determined the relationship between dietary-related media literacy and habitual dietary intake among junior high school students. In total 1,456 responses from five public junior high schools were analyzed. The students were surveyed using the dietary-related media literacy questionnaire and a brief self-administered diet history questionnaire for adolescents (BDHQ15y). The respondents were grouped into three quartiles according to their scores on four subscales of dietary-related media literacy scale. These four subscales were divided into two categories, such as “critical thinking” and “autonomous judgment.” “Critical thinking” had two subscales as “influence from food advertisements and sales promotions” and “critical perception towards dietary-related media information.” “Autonomous judgment” had also two subscales as “judgment of nutritional balance” and “food label use.” The dependent variable was “food intake”; the independent variables included each subscale score, and the covariates were grade, region of residence, restrictions (by family members) on programs watched on television (TV), and TV viewing time. All trends were tested via covariance analysis.

The students with higher autonomous judgment literacy had greater habitual food intake recommended for consumption, which included vegetables, seafood, and dairy. Meanwhile, the relationship with soft drinks and sweets, the excessive consumption of which is considered as a problem, differed between boys and girls. The soft drinks and sweets were consumed less by boys with high levels of critical thinking and girls with high autonomous judgment.

共食では食べ物をよりおいしく感じることが報告されているが、COVID-19のパンデミックによって共食の機会が減少した。このような状況下でのおいしさや感情に着目した研究は現時点でほとんどないことから、本研究では、孤食、オンライン、実際の共食の3つの条件の食事のおいしさと満足感の違いを検討した。

対象は大学生30名とした。1日あたり1つの食事条件に参加し、すべての条件に参加した。対象者は各食後直ちに評価項目を回答した。解析はR（Ver. 4.1.2）を使用し、おいしさの比較には反復測定分散分析、おいしさに影響する要因の検討ではGLMMを用いた。有意水準は5％とした。

食事の満足感とおいしさの評価は実際の共食、オンライン、孤食の順に有意に高かった。また、食事の楽しさ、食後の満足感や充実感などの食事全体の「満足感」がおいしさに影響したことが分かり、会話などのコミュニケーションによって社会的促進の効果が得られた可能性が示唆された。

This study aimed to identify changes in children’s knowledge, attitudes and behavior due to a program that combines learning about well-balanced meals and cooking practice through a series of community-based cooking classes.　

This was a non-randomized controlled trial. The comparison group was composed of participants in the cooking class held from April to September 2019, whereas the intervention group had participants of classes from October 2019-February 2020. Each session consisted of (1) a lecture on balanced meals, (2) hands-on cooking. The program of the comparison group consisted only hands-on cooking as before. Questionnaires at baseline and after intervention evaluated knowledge of well-balanced meals and attitudes and behavior related to meal preparation. The data analysis evaluated the intervention effect on the program and behavior during the program implementation period. Changes from the beginning to the end of the program were analyzed using Friedman’s test and Mann-Whitney U test.

In the intervention group, self-assessment of understanding of a well-balanced meal (p<0.001) and cooking experience with parents during the program implementation (p=0.028) improved compared to the control group.　

The intervention group’s knowledge of well-balanced meals increased after the intervention (p=0.002).

The program in combination of learning about well-balanced meals and cooking classes was effective in improving their understanding about well-balanced meals among program participants.