The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of purchase of processed foods and the awareness about food label among middle school students. This survey was conducted by involving 350 middle school students in Incheon city, Korea from June 17~19, 2015. Middle school students consumed confectioneries, bread, carbonated drinks, and juices and ice creams once or twice a week at the rate of 53.4, 53.0, 40.6, and 36.9%, respectively. The most frequent place, time, and reason to purchase the processed foods were ‘convenience store (36.2%)’, ‘after school (26.8%)’, and ‘hunger (77.9%)’. The subjects exhibited top priority (57.0%) on the taste at the time of purchasing the processed foods. Interestingly, the girl-students (44.7%) checked the labels of food more than the boy students (34.0%). The reasons for checking the food labels included acquiring significant information about the shelf life (27.0%), price (18.1%), nutrient (19.1%), and food additives (14.1%). Among the food labeling information, the name of the product (55.7%), the date of manufacture (49.3%) and the content (32.6%) were checked mainly by the subjects. In addition, the major reason for not confirming the food labeling was ‘the food label was too small or crude (31.9%)’. It is necessary to inform about the processing methods and ingredients of the processed to middle school students so that they can make the correct choice of processed foods. Development of proper education methods on nutrition for middle school students is necessitated for healthy living.

Abstract
 서 론
 연구 내용 및 방법
  1. 조상대상 및 기간
  2. 조사 방법 및 내용
  3. 통계분석
 연구 결과 및 고찰
  1. 조사대상자의 일반적 사항
  2. 가공식품 구입 실태
  3. 식품표시인식
 요약 및 결론
 References

• 한미연(공주대학교 교육대학원) | Mi Yeon Han (Graduate School of Education, Kongju National University)
• 이제혁(공주대학교 식품영양학과) | Je-Hyuk Lee (Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Kongju National University) Corresponding author