• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.41-59
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• 2023

This study aimed at analyzing the educational needs of home economics teachers for food literacy cultivation education in secondary school home economics. A total of 192 home economics teachers were surveyed about their perceptions of importance and performance of food literacy education content categories and elements, and their priorities were identified. Among the 38 content elements presented, home economics teachers recognized that the current performance level was significantly lower than that of the importance over 34 content elements. Based on the Borich educational needs assessment and the Locus for Focus Model, we identified five content elements with 'very high' educational needs ('food security/food sovereignty', 'reducing food-related waste', 'food waste management and recycling', 'food-related waste recycling', and 'country of origin information'), and four content elements with 'high' educational needs ('genetically modified food', 'ethical food consumption', 'food additives', and 'eco-friendly agricultural products'). These results indicate that dietary education in secondary school home economics should emphasize both the production and disposal of food. The findings of this study suggest implications for the needs for a new dietary education in secondary school home economics that allows students to learn all stages of food system. These results can also be used as a basis for dietary education for cultivating food literacy in secondary school home economics education.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.399-408
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• 2024

Food literacy (FL) refers to the ability to understand and utilize food information. This concept consists of functional (FFL), interactive (IFL), and critical food literacy (CFL). In today's massive information-driven society, FL needs must be paid attention to as a determinant of health along with health literacy. This study sought to identify the FL of Korean adults, and to analyze the association between FL and nutritional status. Data was collected through an online self-reported survey among 1,355 Korean adults aged 19 to 64 years, stratified by gender and age. An χ² -test, student's t-test, ANOVA, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and multinomial logistic regression were performed using IBM SPSS 25.0. There were significant differences in the subjects' FFL, IFL, and CFL according to their gender, age, residence area, work type, and monthly income. Furthermore, it was confirmed that subjects with a higher nutrition quotient (NQ) grade also had higher FLs. Additionally, FFL and CFL contributed to improving the NQ grade. This study is meaningful in that it investigated the FL of Korean adults and provided data to identify populations that are particularly vulnerable to a lack of FL. In addition, it was confirmed that FL can have a positive effect on the nutritional status of adults. In conclusion, this study suggests the possibility of using FL as an intervention strategy to improve nutrition.