Effects of Nutritional Education Program through Discretional Activities in Middle School Students

ABSTRACT

The effects of a nutritional education program for first grade middle school students were evaluated from August to December, 2006. The study subjects were 82 boys and 90 girls, residing in Gwangju, Korea. To assess the effects of the nutritional education program, pre- and post-questionnaires examining nutritional knowledge, dietary attitudes, and dietary habits were developed. Paired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to evaluate the effects of the nutritional education program. In the general subject, the main after-school activities were studying, watching TV, and using computer (85.5%), and sports (9.3%), suggesting their low physical activity. Parents (46.5%) were indicated as the source of nutritional education rather than teachers (13.4%). Twenty-five percent of girl students had diet experience of skipping meals (54.6%), suggesting the need of proper nutritional education for adolescents' health care. In dietary attitudes, both genders showed some improvement of recognition after education. In the changes in dietary habits, both genders had a significant effect on 'three meals a day, eating breakfast, and regular meal' after education. After education, the rate of having breakfast everyday increased from 52.4% to 65.9% for boys and from 33.3%to 57.8% for girls. In the changes in nutritional knowledge, the appreciation of the importance of school meals increased in both genders from 50.6% to 80.8% after education. The nutritional knowledge, scores of regular eating and well-mannered eating increased in both genders regardless of the students' characteristics. The study results revealed that this education provided an important motivation to improve basic nutritional knowledge and dietary habit. It is recommended to develop systematic and various educational programs and learning materials tailored to subjects before nutritional education.