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 conducted for the purpose of practice of nutrition education and dietary intake for college students. This survey was carried out through a variety of questionnaires by the subjects which consist of 249 male and 208 female college students in Seoul area. The results obtained were summarized as follows; 1. 75% of the subjects lived in their own houses; the monthly personal expenses were 110~200 thousand wons. The appetite of the students who answered was normal in general. The pattern of dietary life shows that they take richer food at dinner than lunch and breakfast. 2. At school, 75% of students ate at the school cafeteria. Among several main dishes, rice was the most favorite food. Most of the subjects ate their lunch between 12 and 1 o'clock, and they spend approximately 11 to 15 minutes. Most of the students did not have lunch on time. The students ate lunch irregularly, because of the class schedule and poor appetite. 3. On weekends and vacations, 56% of the students ate lunch prepared by their mother at home. The two main reasons for skipping lunch during weekends and vacations were late breakfast and poor appetite. The frequency of eating out were 3~4 times per week, because of social life and convenience of meal. 4. The majority of college students asked for the improvement of meal quality and the choice of menu in school cafeteria.