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pp.146-154
This study was conducted to investigate the vegetable eating behaviors and preferences of elementary school students by stage of change for vegetable intake. The subjects consisted of 191 fourth and fifth grade elementary school students from Gyeonggi province. The stage of change for vegetable intake was categorized into three groups: precontemplation (PC, 18.4%), preparation (P, 43.5%), and action/maintenance (A&M, 48.2%). The trend to eat a variety of foods was more distinctive as the students went from the PC to the A&M stage. The stage of change for vegetable intake was closely related with the kimchi-eating pattern of the students. The A&M group ate more vegetables than the PC group because they liked vegetables and/or wanted to prevent disease. The PC group had a lower tendency to follow recommendations for vegetable eating than the P and A&M groups. The PC group also had an incorrect notion that low vegetable consumption over an extended time would not have a big impact on their health. The vegetables of high preference for the elementary school students were potato, sweet potato, lettuce, radish, perilla leaf, cucumber, and cabbage. The vegetables of low preference were spinach, onion, balloon flower, and green pepper. The PC group had lower preferences for most vegetables than the P and A&M groups. Therefore, careful nutrition education is necessary especially for students in the PC group in order to explain the positive effects of vegetable intake and negative effects of an unbalanced diet. It is also necessary to survey students' tastes consistently and to develop recipes that encourage them to consume more vegetables agreeably.
