Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of middle school students' recognition of food and nutrition part in Home Economics by gender, school location and school type. The study was carried out through questionnaire about three category: perception (interests, practical usefulness, attitude change in food behavior), difficulty (nutrition and health in adolescence, balanced diet, principle of cooking and preparing food), necessity (nutrition and health in adolescence, balanced diet, principle of cooking and preparing food). The subjects were 1014 middle school students of 1st grade in Jeonbuk area; urban 334, suburban 339 and rural 341. The results of this study were as follows. 1) There was difference in 'interests' by gender (girls > boys), school location (urban, suburban > rural) and school type (coeducation > boys, girls). There were differences in 'practical usefulness' by school location (urban > rural) and in 'attitude change in food behavior' by school location (urban > suburban > rural) and school type (boys, girls > coeducation). 2) There was difference in difficulty in section of 'nutrition and health in adolescence' by school location (suburban > rural). There were no differences in section of 'balanced diet' by gender, school location and school type. But there were differences in section of 'principle of cooking and preparing food' by school location (urban, rural > suburban)and school type (coeducation > boys). 3) There were differences in necessity for 'balanced diet' and for 'principle of cooking and preparing food' by school location (urban, suburban > rural) and school type (coeducation > boys, girls). Characteristically, the boys had more necessity for 'nutrition and health in adolescence' and for 'balanced diet' than girls but girls had more necessity for 'principle of cooking and preparing food' than boys. It suggests that gender, school type and school location should be considered for an effective and practical curriculum of food and nutrition part in Home Economics.

• Keywords: home economics; recognition; perception; difficulty; necessity