A study of eating behavior was conducted among 274 children of Nan Hyang elementary school, located in low income area of Seoul, where a school lunch program is not operated. During weekdays, 19.6% of children ate breakfast and 18.4% ate supper alone or with their siblings. The school provided boxed lunches for 10.5% of the children with governmental funds, who were chosen by the school based on their household income. But the percentage of the children skipping breakfast was 14.6%, lunch 10.3% and supper 8.0%. The results of nutritional analysis of the children who had three meals a day and those of children skipped one of the regular meals were compared. The group who had three meals consumed more nutrients except vitamin C than the group skipped meal (p〈0.01). Most common meal pattern was consisted of cooked rice, Kimchi and side dishes. When the children didn't have afternoon classes, 10.0% of the children ate Ramen only at home without any side dishes. Among the protein sources, the beans and bean products were the most common items. When we studied the three different lunches such as A) the boxed lunches provided by school, B) the boxed lunches from home and C) the lunches ate at home, the A) lunches provided the most common items. When we studied the three different lunches such as A) the boxed lunches provided by school, B) the boxed lunches from home and C) the lunches ate at home, the A) lunches provided the milk products, fruits, ice cakes·setc. Their favorite foods were fruits, yoghurt, Chinese black noodle, and sweet potatoes whereas being not prefered foods, were aromatic vegetables. It seemed that the increasing rate of working mothers and the overflooding of instant foods have caused to neglect children's meal management. To solve these problems, nutrition education and extend of school lunch programs should be emphasized.

• 정상진 | Chung, Sang-Jin
• 최선혜 | Choi, Sun-Hae
• 모수미 | Mo, Su-Mi
• 이수정 | Lee, Soo-Joung