A Preliminaly Study on Nutritional Educatin for Preschool Children.

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association 1979;17(3):23-34.

논문편 - 식생활편 : 미취학 아동의 영양교육을 위한 사전연구

문수재 , 이기열 , 김형수 , 손경희 , 이양자 , 곽동경

A Preliminaly Study on Nutritional Educatin for Preschool Children.

Soo Jae Moon , Ki Yull Lee , Hyung Soo Kim , Kyung Hee Sohn , Yang Cha Lee , Dong Kyung Kwak

ABSTRACT

Adequate intake of nutrients exert a profound influence on the physical and spiritual development of children. Thus, it is important to children and their mothers about nutrition and selection of nutritious foods. In order to underline the importance of nutrition for children, this study investigated and analyzed food habits of children expecially those in preschool ages, to obtain basic data to develop effective educational materials related to nutrition. dietary habits of 61 boys and 44 girls in the average age of six were surveyed through their mothers. Results therefrom are as follows : 1. Only 17 per cent of the mothers questioned replied that they considered the balance of diet in preparing meals, while 58.1% of the mothers gave precedence to the liking of their family . The lower the educational level of a mother , the higher her stress on the food preference of her family. 2. Seventy six of the mothers said they understand the basic food group , but only one mother displayed an accurate knowledge about it. 3. As for between meal eating , 82.9% took fruits, 68.6% milk, 35.2 bread, and 33.3% cookies. 4. Problems with food habits of children were : Unbalanced diet for 43.8% of children ,eating of snacks at irregular intervals for 26.7% and TV impact for 5.7%. 5. Children's food habits are greatly influenced by their parents, In the case of animal liver, 32.1 % of the children surveyed do not like to eat it, while 35.8% have never tasted it . 27.9% of children also do not like to eat cereals. Children's likes and dislikes with regarded to foods were influenced greatly by their parents. Thus, it is urgent to educate mothers about balanced diet and basic food group. Children will have to be taught to understand unfavorable effects of unbalanced diet so that they may correct their unsound food habits. This study also indicated the need for developing new cooking methods for those food items which are very liked by children to be a major cause of their unbalanced dietary habits.