Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop children-friendly comic books and animation for dietary education of 3rd or 4th grade elementary students. Through a literature review on current dietary problems and dietary education for children, 15 educational themes were chosen on both healthy eating and safe dietary life. Comic books and animation were developed based on the themes by the brainstorming and help of professional animators, and they were applied and evaluated in the field. The developed comic books and animation, with its own characters, proved to be of high quality and effective educational materials for children's healthy and safe eating. Compared with the reference group, the tested group has shown a significant improvement in dietary knowledge and attitude (p < 0.05). And both parents (level of understanding 4.29, level of interest 4.49, level of usefulness 4.46, level of design satisfaction 3.95 in 5-point Likert scale) and children (level of understanding 4.63, level of interest 4.57, level of usefulness of 1st comic book 4.44, 2nd comic book 4.49, level of design satisfaction 4.06, level of usefulness for knowledge pages 4.22 in 5-point Likert scale) have shown high levels of interests and satisfaction. Therefore, these materials could be utilized as effective educational materials for elementary students in school lunch time, extra-curricular activities, or after school programs.

• Keywords: dietary education; comic book; animation; children