The Perceptions and Attitudes of Elementary School Children Towards Family Meals

초등학생의 가족식사에 대한 인식과 태도

  • Lee, Young-Mee (Dept. of Food & Nutrition, Kyungwon University) ;
  • Lee, Ki-Wan (Dept. of Food & Nutrition, Kyungwon University) ;
  • Oh, Yu-Jin (Dept. of Food & Nutrition, Kyungwon University)
  • 이영미 (경원대학교 생활과학대학 식품영양학과) ;
  • 이기완 (경원대학교 생활과학대학 식품영양학과) ;
  • 오유진 (경원대학교 생활과학대학 식품영양학과)
  • Received : 2008.10.01
  • Accepted : 2008.11.25
  • Published : 2009.02.02

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the overall conditions related to family meals-including perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors-among elementary school children. The data were collected from 464 male and female students attending elementary schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in December 2006 to February 2007, using self-administered questionnaires. The results were as follows: 77.7% of the students regarded family meals as meals eaten with all family members living together in a household. With regard to the frequency of family meals, 40.9% of the students reported that they ate with their family 'more than once per day'. 74.7% of the students reported that they enjoyed family meals because mealtime is a time to talk with other family members. When the degree of satisfaction with life was evaluated using a Likert scale (strongly satisfied-5 points, strongly unsatisfied-1 point), the results showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction with their daily lives, health, nutritious conditions, and family care. Students had more positive psychological feelings as the frequency of family meals increases. Likewise, the groups who frequently ate family meals scored higher in positive attitudes and behaviors toward family meals, thereby implying that the consumption of family meals is associated with the promotion of familial relationships, psychological stability, and positive thinking in children. These findings indicate that attention should be directed toward increasing the frequency of family meals and creating a positive family meal environment.

Keywords

References

  1. 김은경, 남혜원, 박영심, 명춘옥, 이기완 (2004) : 생활주기 영양학. 신광출판사. 서울. pp.233-267
  2. 이민준 (2003): 어린이 건강-비만, 저체중 아동이 늘고 있다. 건강생활 2003년 5월호
  3. 이민준 (2005): 우리들의 건강식: 학령기아동의 영양적 특징과 식생활. 건강생활 2005년 5월호
  4. Adachi Miyuki 저, 모수미, 권순자, 이경식 역 (2000) : 알고계십니까, 아이들의 식탁. 교문사. 서울. pp.158-170
  5. Cason KL (2006): Family mealtimes: more than just eating together. J Am Diet Assoc 106(4):532-533 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2006.01.012
  6. Compan E. Moreno J, Ruiz MT, Pascual E (2002): Doing thing together: adolescent health and family rituals, J Epidemiol Community Health 56(2):89-94 https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.56.2.89
  7. Eisenberg ME. Olson RE. Neumark-Sztainer D. Story M, Bearinger LH (2004): Correlations between family meals and psycosocial well-being among adolescents. Arch Pedialr Adolesc Med 158(8):792-796 https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.158.8.792
  8. Hong YJ (1998): A study on relation of food ecology to obesity index of 5th grade children in Cheju city (II). Korean J Diet Culture 13(2):141-151
  9. Jang YA, Han SS, Lee HS, Won HS, Kim SH, Kim HY, Kim WK Oh SY, Cho SS (2000): A study for dietary attitude and food behavior of elementary, middle and high school student of Korea. J Korean Home Econ Assoc 38(8):85-97
  10. Kidshealth (200): Available from: http://kidshealth.org/parent/food/general/family_meals.html
  11. Lee KW, Cho YJ (2007): A study on the perceptions and attitudes of middle and high school students towards family meal. J East Asian Soc Dietary Life 17(5):615-625
  12. Lee KW, Lee YM, Oh YJ. Cho YJ, Lee MJ (2008): Attitude of family meal and comparison of dietary quality between family meal and alone meal in middle and high school student. J Korean Diet Assoc 14(2):127-138
  13. Mistry of welfare (2001, 2005): 2001, 2005 National health and nutrition survey 3rd -Nutrition-
  14. Sung CJ, Sung MK, Choi MK, Kang YL, Kwon SJ, Kim MH, Seo YL, Acachi M, Mo SM (2001): An ecological study of food and nutrition in elementary school children in Korea. Korean J Comm Nutr 6(2):150-161
  15. Sung CJ, Sung MK, Choi MK, Kim MH, Sea YL, Park ES, Baik JJ, Seo JS, Mo SM (2003): Comparison of the food and nutrition ecology of elementary school children by regions. Korean J Comm Nutr 8(5):642-651
  16. Videon TM, Manning CK (2003): Influences on adolescent eating patterns: the importance of family meals. J Adolescent Health 32(5):365-373 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00711-5
  17. Villares JMM, Segovia MJG (2006): The family meal: somewhat more than eating together. Acta Pediatrica Espanola 64(11):554-558
  18. Waxman M (2006): The importance of the family meal. Available from: http://www.macrobiotics.co.uk/kidspage/familymeal.hlm. Accessed September 23
  19. Weinstein M (2006): 부부와 자녀의 미래를 바꾸는 가족식사의 힘(김승환 역). 한스미디어, 서울. Chapter 3-6