The objective of this study is to investigate the satisfaction of elementary, middle and high school nutrition teachers in the Chungnam province concerning the free school food service. We surveyed satisfaction related to policies on school food service and the school food service center. Satisfaction on the school food service center was separated according to four dimensions; perception, food materials, operational system and service. Furthermore, we analyzed factors that affect satisfaction with the school food service center with a multiple regression model. First, satisfaction about the free school food service and dietary life education are higher than the total average of satisfaction with the policy about the school food service. Second, satisfaction about a variety of food materials and reasonable prices are lower than total average of satisfaction with the school food service center. Third, when more teachers have a high level of a positive perception and have higher satisfaction with the operational system of the school food service center, then they also subsequently display higher satisfaction with the school food service center. Therefore it is necessary to improve or make up for pricing and diversity on food materials by the school food service center.

School dietitians are divided into two groups according to their status of employment, school nutrition teachers and dietitians, with the latter being irregularly employed by the institution. In this study, the job satisfaction, communication ability, work performance and importance in feeding services and dietetic counseling of both groups were compared. To accomplish this, 100 regularly employed school nutrition teachers (regularly employed) and 101 dietitians (irregularly employed) were surveyed by questionnaire. The results were as follows: (1) The irregularly employed dietitians showed a lower level of job satisfaction than the school nutrition teachers. This was likely because the school nutrition teachers belonged to the strong inner circle of school teachers and cafeteria workers, and had enough time to prepare for class lectures and consultancy. Conversely, the irregularly employed dietitians generally handle extra office work in addition to their primary duties. Despite these differences, both parties agreed that it was necessary to change the work system. Additionally, school dietitians reported that they had little opportunity for further training for career development. (2) Both parties had good communication skills; however, the irregularly employed dietitians had more conflicts with other staff members than the regular employees. (3) Job performance and job importance level was compared among employees involved in school feeding services and nutrition counseling. No significant differences were observed between dietitians and nutrition teachers in either group (p<0.05). However, the school nutrition teachers showed better skills than school dietitian with respect to public relations, running independent counseling offices, and using effective tools and materials. Job performance level was lower when compared to job importance level for all items, which meant the job was not well performed when compared to the work importance awareness.

The purposes of study were to survey the status of nutrition education in school and investigate the perception of nutrition teacher candidates concerning the direction and ideal method for nutrition education. A questionnaire was distributed to 554 nutrition teacher candidates from August to October, 2006. A total of 468 usable data were collected (84.5% response rate). The statistical data analysis was completed by using SPSS for Windows (ver. 10.0) for descriptive analysis, ANOVA and 2-test. About 52% of respondents had nutrition education teaching experience. Half of the respondents indicated that the necessity for nutrition education stemmed from their own need for such education. The main problem in students' dietary life was 'the increasing intake of processed foods, instant foods and fast foods (4.23 out of Likert 5 point scale)' and the major nutritional problem was 'high calorie intake with low essential nutrients (3.96 out of Likert 5 point scale)'. Over half the respondents (53.4%) recommended that nutrition education be oriented towards behavioral change rather than knowledge delivery. Social learning theory was preferred mostly as an theory apt to nutrition education (60.3%) and the most effective means of education was referred to organizing the regular class for nutrition education (50.5%). The 'playing such as songs or game' was reported as both effective and realizable method in nutrition education.

Teachers who are responsible for children's education are very important to help the school age children to have right nutrition knowledge, they are confronted with difficulties to teach due to the lack of nutrition knowledge as well as materials that can be easily understood by children. The purpose of this study was to look into the basic knowledge of elementary school teachers on nutrition. The elementary school teachers investigated didn't get good marks in nutritional knowledge, food and cooking method knowledge and sanitary knowledge, as the collective averages in those areas were respectively 56.08±14.80, 60.52±10.95, and 45.25±16.13. Sixty seven percent of respondents the largest group, acquired nutritional information through mass media, but they wanted to be given teaching information in the form of educational materials(49.0%). More than 70 percent believed that nutrition should be educated by nutrition teachers (p〈0.01), and as for what should be handled in nutrition education, they thought that students should be educated to build the right eating habits (59.5%). Based on the results, a sequential nutrition education program for the lower grades of school children was developed. This program consisted of five different categories, and according to the results, that was designed to deal with the knowledge of teachers on nutrition, food, cooking method and hygiene, table manners and food-borne illness.