J Korean Diet Assoc.  2009 May;15(2):97-112.

A Survey on Dietary Habits in Gyeongnam and the Development of the Nutrition Education Curriculum with Teacher's Guide for Obese Elementary School Children

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Food & Nutrition, Changwon National University, Changwon City, Korea. khl@changwon.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Food & Nutrition, Changshin College, Changwon City, Korea.
  • 3Health Center, Changwon City, Korea.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide which includes discretionary activities for obese children. A survey was carried out to investigate the recognition of body image and food behaviors according to the obesity index (mild, moderate, severe) in school children (4~6th grade, 158 boys and 60 girls) who were selected based on a physical examination in May, 2006 in the Gyeongnam province. Next, a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide was developed on the basis of the findings from the survey and from preceding researches. The results are summarized as follow. The results of this study showed the existence of some nutritional problems such as overeating, prejudice, skipping meals, snacking patterns, etc, which indicate the need for nutritional management for obese children. Most overweight children (80.3%) showed the most interest in the nutrition education program, particularly with regards to dieting for weight control (64.7%). The developed nutrition education curriculum consisted of 8 main subjects and 13 subtitles. The curriculum was prepared for 13 lessons and included songs and singing, making-up lyrics, games about nutrition, discussions of the experience of eating (satiety, thirst, hunger), debates on dietary habits, writing and others to promote the interest for learning. We aimed to develop this program in an attempt to improve the dietary habits of obese school children. This is very important because once a dietary habit is formed in adults, it is difficult to change and the best adjustable stage is during childhood. Therefore, early nutrition education during elementary school can change and build-up the awareness of health in young elementary school children.

Keyword

elementary school children; obesity; nutrition education; teaching-learning curriculum; dietary habits

MeSH Terms

Adult
Body Image
Child
Curriculum
Diet
Eating
Food Habits
Humans
Hyperphagia
Learning
Meals
Obesity
Overweight
Physical Examination
Prejudice
Singing
Snacks
Thirst
Writing
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