This study investigated the effect of cooking class on improvement of eating behaviors and satisfaction with cooking activities in children. The questionnaires developed for this study were distributed to 380 mothers during June to August, 2011. A total of 286 questionnaires were used for analysis (81.7%), and frequency analysis, ANOVA, and χ2-test were completed using SPSS (version 14.0) software. The children with cooking experience (52.7%) showed more improvement of eating habits than children with no cooking experience (36.4%). Both types of children showed an ‘unbalanced diet’ with respect to eating habits. The overall satisfaction level was an average of 3.84±0.62. The effects after cooking activities varied for different aspects of improvement of eating habits: ‘Correcting unbalanced diet’ was 4.26±0.66, ‘nutrition knowledge’ was 4.06±0.70, ‘dining etiquette’ was 4.09±0.63, and ‘regular meals’ was 4.15±0.73. There was a significant difference between genders with regards to correcting unbalanced diet with vegetables (p<0.01). Ages from 10 to 12 were able to improve unbalanced diet with ‘grains’ (p<0.001), while ‘Kimchi’ (p<0.05) and ‘paste’ for ages from 10 to 12. In conclusion, cooking activities are regarded as effective in correcting unbalanced diet and eliciting positive changes in eating behavior.

• 장정민(장안대학교 외식산업과) | Jeong-Min Jang
• 강근옥(국립한경대학교 영양조리과학과) | Kun-Og Kang Corresponding author