The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary education on improving preferences to Korean traditional foods in upper grades schoolchildren. The education group consisted of 184 children (4th=65, 5th=50, 6th=69), while the control group consisted of 135 children (4th=40, 5th=55, 6th=40). Each group was selected from a different school in Changwon. In the education group, 12 lessons were implemented using educational materials based on sensory education. For the evaluation, pre- and post-surveys were performed in each group using self-administered questionnaire surveys. Variables in the questionnaire consisted of self-efficacy, subjective norms, cognitive attitude, food neophobia scale, eating frequency, preference, intake experience, and nutrition knowledge. After education, the knowledge score improved significantly in both groups. However, self-efficacy (p<0.01), subjective norms (p<0.01), cognitive attitude (p<0.001) and food neophobia scale (p<0.001) changed significantly in only the education group. The intake frequency of Korean traditional foods did not significantly increase in either group. However, the preferences and intake experience of the foods, which were offered in class and school meals, changed significant in only the education group. In conclusion, dietary education based on sensory education may be useful for developing a positive eating attitude for Korean traditional foods in children.

This study was implemented to understand the motivation factors for 2nd grade schoolchildren that effect on their preference for the sweet taste. The subjects included were 118 children (59 boys and 59 girls) and 118 children's guardians, from one elementary school. Children participated in sweet preference test and questionnaire survey with researcher's guidance provided in the school. Children's guardians were asked to fill out the questionnaire via home-letters. The results were as follows: 59% of the children preferred the cocoa beverage with the highest concentration of sugar among five cocoa beverages (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% of sucrose/milk volume). The variables consisted of affective attitude, cognitive attitude, self-efficacy, parenting style, and sweets frequency. According to the analysis, sweet preferences were correlated with children's affective attitude (r=－0.207, p<0.01), self-efficacy (r=－0.288, p<0.01), frequency of drinking carbonated beverage (r=0.272, p<0.01), preference for yogurt (r=0.184, p<0.05), and preference for sweet bread (r=0.226, p<0.05). These results indicated that children can be more affected by affective attitude than cognitive attitude, and self-efficacy can be an important motivation factor to control the eating behavior related to sweets. Therefore, nutrition educators need to focus on developing various methods related to increasing self-efficacy for encouraging and motivating healthy eating behavior in children.