The purpose of this study was to examine changes in serving frequency of elementary school meal before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Number of menus provided in June and July of 2019 and 2020 were compared for 300 elementary schools in Korea. As a result, the serving frequency of la carte and dessert was increased after COVID-19. In addition, frequencies of main dishes such as pork cutlet, chicken, sweet and sour pork, hamburger steak, and so on using processed food were increased after COVID-19. Because of the longer serving time due to staggered serving, cook's working time for serving meals became longer. Therefore, it was judged that the number of servings of processed food was increased rather than the menu with a large amount of preprocessing work. Moreover, among desserts, fruits showed increased serving frequency. Serving frequencies for juice and dairy products were also increased. However, increased servings of juice and dairy products could increase sugar intake. Thus, a careful plan for menu composition is needed to provide balanced nutrients to students under emergency situations such as an infectious disease.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction with school meal service and the food preference in elementary school students who are in their growth period. A total of 484 students (242 boys) participated and completed a questionnaire survey. The results indicated that the merit of school meals was the highest in ‘balanced diet’. 'Food hygiene' and 'delicious food' were the most important factors in school meals. Most of the students wanted ‘balance between eastern and western foods’ and ‘new dishes’ for the menu of school meals. For the distribution of meals, ‘various kinds of side dishes’ and ‘warmth of dishes’ were mainly required. The main problems of the current environment of school meals were ‘long waiting time’ and ‘noise of the cafeteria’. In satisfaction with the school meal service, the highest satisfactory factor was 'staffs’ cleanliness', following 'arrangement of furniture in cafeteria' and 'nutrition information-providing'; whereas, the lowest factor was 'staffs’ kindness'. In the preference of foods, students preferred ‘white rice’; whereas they did not like ‘bean rice’; and ‘fried rice' was preferred. In side dishes with meat and fish, most of the meats including ‘Tangsuyuk’ and ‘Bulgogi’ were preferred. For fish, ‘fried hairtail’ was preferred; whereas, ‘fried Spanish mackerel’ was not. In case of kimchi, ‘Chinese cabbage kimchi’ and ‘cubed radish kimchi’ were especially preferred. Considering these results, intensive improvement is required to increase school meal satisfaction by understanding the students' needs. An effort to allow the students’ preferences to be reflected in the menu is also needed

Changes in social, economical, and cultural environments affect the meal practices of children. The transmission of traditional Korean food culture is very important because it presents not only a well-balanced diet but also contributes to shaping identity. The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school students' present meal practices and views, as well as demands on traditional food culture education to reflect future educational plans. Half of the students ate breakfast everyday and 72% ate a traditional Korean style breakfast. About 38% of the students participated 2-4 times per week in meal preparation and 34% participated in clean-up after the meal once a day. Although 6th graders had greater skills in basic cooking, they tended to be more passive upon applying their skills in daily meal practice. For traditional food culture education, 89% of the experienced and 86.2% of the inexperienced groups agreed on the necessity of traditional food culture education. Students attained traditional food culture knowledge through Silgwa, practical coursework within the curriculum, and by teachers leading classes. They were also educated by parents, mass media, and books outside of school. The preferred methods of class teaching were lecture and experiential learning. The preferred subjects to learn were 'cooking classes based on taste development', 'learning food ingredients through vegetable growing', 'traditional Korean food manners', and 'traditional Korean food culture and seasonal foods' as well as nutritional education. Fifth graders had more positive attitudes towards meal practices and traditional food culture education. Traditional Korean food culture and nutrition education should be integrated and developed into regular subject curricula to improve children's meal practice and inheritance of traditional food culture.

This study was carried out to find out differences about meal conditions and food preference between non-obese and obese elementary school children. Ten children(non-obese 5 and obese 5) from each of the nationwide 192 schools were surveyed by self-developed questionnaire. Total of 1,767 questionnaires(815 from non-obese and 952 from obese children) were collected and data were analyzed using SPSS 12.0 program. The results of the comparative analysis were summarized as follows. There was not significantly different in height between non-obese group(151.0±12.5cm) and obese group(151.2±12.3cm). But BMI was significant difference between non-obese group(18.0±2.2cm) and obese group(27.3±3.2cm). Economical status was not significantly different between 2 groups. But educational level of parents and mother’ job were significant differences between 2 groups. Only 2/3 of the subjects reported to have breakfast at regular basas, regularity of having breakfast was not significantly different between 2 groups. Also regularity of having lunch during vacation was not significantly different between 2 groups. But Reasons of skipping breakfast and lunch were significantly different between 2 groups. Regularity of having dinner, reasons of skipping dinner, intake amount in dinner, and frequency of having snacks were significantly different between 2 groups. But the time required for lunch and dinner were under 20 minutes of 60-80% of the subjects, and were not significantly different between 2 groups. Non-obese group have liked fast foods, fruits & juices, sweets, and cakes & cookies than obese group. Obese group have liked meat & meat products and ramyeon, but they have not eaten those foods frequently because of anxiety about being more fatty. These findings suggested that nutrition education programs include different strategy according to obesity and obese prevention program is needed for non-obese school children.