Korean Journal of Community Nutrition

Research Article

[Korean]
Parents' needs and perceptions of dietary and nutrition education in early childhood education institutions in South Korea: a mixed methods study: Jounghee Lee, Sookyung Choi, Minseo Kim, Seonghyun Lim, Jeong-Weon Kim; Korean J Community Nutr 2025;30(6):441-456. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2025.00304

Abstract PDF: Objectives
This study aimed to clarify parental perceptions of dietary and nutritional education provided to young children, identify parental support needs, and suggest directions for improvement.
Methods
A mixed-method sequential explanatory design was followed. Quantitative data were collected through an online survey conducted nationwide that included 200 parents of children aged three to six years in South Korea. Qualitative data were subsequently obtained through focus group interviews with fifteen parents to explore their contextual insights and experiences.
Results
Needs ratings prioritized expanding activity-based/experiential education (3.65 ± 0.88), followed by strengthening home-school communication and connectivity (3.59 ± 0.84), diversifying topics and content (3.55 ± 0.88), and increasing instructional time (3.39 ± 0.94). Integrated with the focus group interview findings, multilevel barriers were revealed—individual level: strong preferences of children for sweet/processed foods; interpersonal level: strong parental modeling and peer effects counterbalancing limited teacher expertise/time; organizational level: insufficient effective event-based experiential activities, and resource gaps across institutions; community/policy level: infrequent external support, uneven access to local resources, lack of standardized guidance, and limited opportunities for parental participation. Parents favored short, interactive digital content and expressed concerns about overexposure. These convergent findings indicate needs to 1) formalize and extend experiential programs within the regular curriculum, 2) provide standardized guidelines and home resource kits, and 3) institutionalize parental involvement.
Conclusion
These findings reveal that dietary and nutritional education for young children should move beyond fragmented, event-based programs toward an integrated three-tiered model incorporating (1) a structured, experiential curriculum, (2) home-linked educational packages, and (3) safe and interactive digital content. Establishing standardized guidelines, enhancing educational infrastructure, and institutionalizing parental participation are essential for sustainable improvement of early childhood dietary education.

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Educational Material

[Korean]
Development and evaluation of play-based food and nutrition education materials for early childhood through sensory experiences: a pre-post observational study: Hyunjoo Ryou, Sohyun Park, Jieun Oh, Ji-Yun Hwang; Korean J Community Nutr 2025;30(6):471-483. Published online December 31, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2025.00276

Abstract PDF: Objectives
This study aimed to develop play-based nutrition education (PBNE) materials for young children and to evaluate their applicability and effectiveness.
Methods
An online survey of 1,253 primary caregivers of preschool children was conducted, and the findings were used to develop age-specific utilization guides, slides, activity sheets, activity cards, posters, educational videos, and parent newsletters. Selected materials were implemented in child-care centers through the Children’s Foodservice Management Centers between October and November 2023. The effectiveness of the PBNE program was assessed by examining changes in mushroom consumption as well as food awareness and preferences, before and after the intervention.
Results
A total of eight media formats and 320 educational contents were developed, and mushrooms were as the pilot theme among the 12 possible food items. Following the intervention, children’s positive awareness of mushrooms increased, and > 96% of participants attempted to consume them. Teachers in child-care centers rated the appropriateness and applicability of the content, its contribution to behavioral improvement, and their overall satisfaction at > 4.9 out of 5 points.
Conclusion
This study developed experiential, PBNE materials aligned with the national standard child- and play-centered curriculum. The materials were effective in enhancing food awareness and promoting attempts at consumption. Future efforts should focus on developing additional experiential teaching tools that incorporate teacher feedback and on strengthening home-linked programs to support healthy seasonal food intake and positive dietary experiences in young children.

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Original Articles

[English]
Development of an Educational Web Site and e-Learning System for Elementary School Students to Reduce Sugar, Natrium and Fat Intakes: Hyung Woo Kim, Kyoung Ae Lee, Eun Jin Cho, Jong Chan Chae, Yoo Kyeong Kim, Sungsug Lee, Kyung Hea Lee; Korean J Community Nutr 2010;15(1):36-49. Published online February 28, 2010

Abstract PDF: This study was carried out to reduce children's sugar, natrium and fat intakes and establish their healthy lifestyle. To achieve these goals, we developed an educational web site and an e-learning system. The targets of this web site are children, parents and educators. This site has various information about sugar, natrium and fat, and has special menus for each target: such as the 'Let's study' for children, 'Guides for child's eating' for parents, and 'Educational softwares, Lesson plans/materials, and Textbooks/Teaching guides' for educators. We developed three nutrient characters and applied them to the web site. We provided information in the form of texts, images, flash and sounds. This site has special boards in 'Nutrition cafe' menu to interchange information or their successful stories between the connecters. We developed an e-learning system with two courses. One is for junior elementary students and the other is for senior students. Children can study each nutrient step by step in a course according to their academic ability and concern. Also, they can evaluate their academic achievement in this system, which was uploaded into 'Let's study' in children menu in the web site. Conclusively this web site and e-learning system could contribute to reducing children's sugar, natrium and fat intakes by helping children study them systematically and effectively by on-line system. We expect this e-learning system would be a new nutrition education system to make nutrition education more active.

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[English]
A Comparative Study of Obese Children and Normal Children on Dietary Intake and Environmental Factors at an Elementary School in Inchon: Youn Jin Lee, Kyung Ja Chang; Korean J Community Nutr 1999;4(4):504-511. Published online December 31, 1999

Abstract PDF: The purpose of this survey was to investigate the relationship among obese children, dietary intake and environmental factors. Therefore, this survey compared obese children with normal children on dietary intake and environmental factors. The survey were 110 obese children and 110 normal children whose age, height, and sex were same as the obese children of 21 elementary school in Inchon. The statistical analysis of data was completed using SAS program. The results were summarized as follows : 1) The student's obesity was related to parent's obesity and number of their siblings. There were significant differences between obese groups and normal group for these two factors. 2) Meal time of the obese group showed more irregularity than that of the normal group. Otherwise, the normal group were more "piclity" about special food than the obese group(p<0.05). Also obese children showed unconsious eating while reading or watching TV(p<0.01). The normal group attended physical education class more eagerily the obese group(p<0.001). There was no significant difference between obese children and normal children for learning habits. 3) Obese children shoed higher intake of nutrients compared to normal children. Among all the nutrients, minerals and vitamins showed significant differences. Therefore, further study on obese children and their intake of minerals and vitamin is needed. Also, in order to prevent factors which influence obesity, nutrition education at home as well as school was needed.

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