This study developed a vegetable preference increase program that can be applied at the Center for Children's Foodservice Management (CCFM) for children in child-care facilities and kindergarten and the training performance was evaluated by 192 5-year old children. Teachers considered ‘disliked food’ (3.23±0.85/out of 5) as the most serious nutritional problem and typical disliked food was ‘vegetables’ (54.2%). Based on this finding, to increase the preference for vegetables, a fivephase education program was developed. In this program, each phase was composed of activities to increase children's interest in vegetables by using each sense out of the five senses. Center dieticians had visited and conducted the program in 12 facilities. By using an illustration assessment tool, the training performance was evaluated by comparing the children's knowledge level and their preference changes in vegetables. Consequently, as examined by 10 questions on the knowledge of vegetables, trained children's (in total 192) knowledge of vegetables had considerably increased (p<0.01, p<0.001), and their preference for 15 out of the 16 vegetables, except for carrots, also showed a considerable preference increase after the training (p<0.01, p<0.001). Therefore, this program is considered to have contributed to reducing disliked vegetable eating behaviors.

The purpose of the study was to provide baseline information that could encourage consumers and establish thedirection of development for sprouts and leafy vegetables. A survey on the consumption and preference for sproutsand leafy vegetables of 823 people over 20 years of age in Seoul and Gyeonggi province was conducted. The preference for sprouts was higher in men (3.75±0.96) than in women (3.64±0.84), whereas the preference for leafy vegetables was higher in women (4.06±0.74) than in men (3.88±0.90). Based on age, the respondents in their 40s or above had high preferences for sprouts and leaf vegetables due to the importance that they accorded to health and nutrition (p<0.01). The sprouts and leafy vegetables were purchased mainly for their high nutritional value. The purchase frequency of once a month or more for leafy vegetables (82.7%) was higher than that for sprouts (57.1%). The consumers purchased sprouts and leafy vegetables mainly from a large discount store. The respondents in their 20s showed the highest percentage of purchasing from a local store whereas the older ones showed a high preference for traditional markets. The reason for the choice of the place of purchase was convenience. The freshness and price were important factors in the consumption of sprouts and leafy vegetables. In the case of leafy vegetables, the consumers preferred to buy them using the conventional weight measurement system rather than in small packages. On the other hand, mixed small packages were preferred for sprouts. The purchase frequency was correlated with the preferences, need for improvement and purchase intent for sprouts and leafy vegetables. The aspects that require improvement for producing high-quality sprouts and leafy vegetables were the nutritional and functional properties. To increase the consumption of sprouts and leafy vegetables, there is need for variations and improvement of the quality and safety of the products.