The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects
cooking activities on the
taste and
perception of Korean
foods in upper
grade school children. The
cooking class program was designed as 16 lessons for fourth, fifth, and sixth
grade school children, and it was implemented as an extracurricular activity. Each lesson included the origin and meaning of Korean
foods and
cooking. Thirty four
children were recruited for participation in
cooking class from two elementary
schools in Changwon. The
control group was recruited from a convenient sampling in each
school. The pre- and post-implementation surveys were conducted for comparison of the effects of
cooking class between the educated and
control group.
Children answered the
self-administered
questionnaire. The
questionnaire contained
measures of demographic variables,
eating culture, interest and preference,
taste,
perception, and
knowledge of Korean
foods. There were no significant differences in interest and preference on traditional Korean
foods, however, the
taste of experimental
foods was increased by
education (P<0.05). Results for
perception (P<0.05) and
knowledge (P<0.001) of traditional Korean
foods were significantly increased by
education. However, no changes in
taste,
perception, and
knowledge were observed in the
control group. In conclusion,
cooking activity is the most favorite activity of
children, and is an effective
method for positively affecting the
taste and
perception of Korean
foods.