A Study on the Recognition and Education of Food Additives in Middle School Students

The purpose of this study is to offer youth with the basic materials for developing nutrition education programs and to help domestic science teachers in schools implement effective dietary education by examining their awareness of food additives. In the source of acquiring knowledges on food additives, the results were through mass media, technology and home economics teachers, and family members in order. The majority of students thought that they don't need the education about food additives. As effective teaching methods, they first selected the use of visual media, followed by experimental cooking classes, field trip, and inquiry lessons using processed foods. As a result of analyzing the education on food additives in accordance with demographic factors, more number of female students, compared to male students depicted the need for education on food additives. Further, the lower the cost students spend on purchasing processed foods per day, the higher the necessity of the education they indicate. The necessity of education content on food additives showed significant difference depending on the cost of buying processed foods, and the degree of interest and help real-life according to gender indicated significant differences. The satisfaction with education on food additives, which was implemented in home economics education revealed significant differences according to gender. This study aims to provide the basic data for the development and research of educational programs regarding good eating habits among the general youth. However, there are limitations to the presentation of the practical training program. For this reason, based on the results of this study, further studies should follow this study in order to develop and study educational programs related to food additives for teaching and learning purposes.

중학생들의 식품첨가물에 대한 인식과 교육에 관한 연구