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This study was conducted to develop and evaluate food menus after investigating eating behaviors and food preferences of preschool children. Parents of the preschool children In 2 Gumi City day-care centers completed questionnaires in July 2003, which were used to assess eating behaviors and food preferences of their preschool children. Analysis of the questionnaires led to the development of the menus. Menus (n=10) were developed for five different categories (two menus were developed for each category) including general menu, unbalanced menu, anemia menu, obese menu, and traditional menu. The preschool children(n=656) evaluated the menus as they were provided with each them throughout October 2003. The five score scale method was used to evaluate taste, smell, looks, texture and general preference of each menu. Results in eating behaviors showed that 70.7% of preschool children had unbalanced eating behaviors. No gender based differences in eating behaviors were found, but in regard to food preferences boys tended to prefer carbonated drinks more than girls. Results indicated that among all menus, fruit ranked highest (3.97±0.65) for food preference, and vegetables ranked lowest for food preference (2.46±0.68). Food preference in regard to cooking process indicated the highest preference was for fried foods (3.80±0.68) and the lowest preference was for raw vegetables (2.61±1.27) and namul (2.85±1.13). Preference for taste ranked the highest (4.30±0.91) but preference for looks recorded the lowest (3.95±0.89). Of all the foods in the menus, steamed tofu rated the highest for individual food item preference, while tuna sesame leaf rice rated the lowest preference. Statistical analysis of interrelationships among food taste, smell, looks, texture and general preference were significant (p〈0.0l). Results from this study suggest that various factors including food taste, smell, looks, and texture influence the food preferences of preschool children. Therefore, it is concluded that by developing a variety of appetizing menus for use at home and in day-care centers, containing varied food items and cooking methods, preschool children will be encouraged to increase their food preferences and to establish appropriate eating behaviors.
