• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.645-654
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of dietary education carried out by dieticians or nutrition teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools in Gyeonggi province. We compared dietary education status not only among school level but also between dieticians and nutrition teachers. Methods: The survey using self-administered questionnaires was conducted by dieticians or nutrition teachers at 91 schools (43 elementary schools, 33 middle schools, and 15 high schools) in Gyeonggi province in December, 2015. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding general characteristics of respondents, current status of dietary education, opinion about dietary education methods, and cooperation level of persons concerned. Results: The placement rate of nutrition teachers was 50.5% overall. Only 36 out of 91 schools conducted regular dietary education, and the percentage of schools conducting regular dietary education was significantly different according to school level with the lowest percentage in high schools, equivalent to 20% (p = 0.003). The average annual dietary education time was 12.4 hours, and it was very low in high schools (5.1 hours) and in schools without a nutrition teacher (1.6 hours). The levels of cooperation and support from principals, teachers, parents, and students were significantly lower in high schools than elementary and middle schools (all p < 0.001) and in schools without a nutrition teacher than schools with a nutrition teacher (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results show that the level of dietary education is not enough and needs to be improved, especially at middle and high schools and at schools without a nutrition teacher. Government support polices need to be implemented to encourage dietary educational activities.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.82-90
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• 1998

This study is attempted to examine Korean teachers’ perceptions of mental health problems in students and their attitudes towards psychiatric consultations through a questionnaire survey. The results of this study are as follows. 1) Teachers thought that 5.3% of their students had mental health problems, 1.9% of students required psychiatric evaluation, and 1.2% of students were referred or recommended psychiatric evaluation by their teachers. 2) The most frequent mental health problems in students discovered by teachers were distractibility and inattention, lack of academic skills, and language difficulties in elementary schools；distractibility and inattention, conduct problems, and lack of academic skills in middle schools；and conduct problems, distractibility and inattention, physical symptoms, and substance abuse in high schools. 3) Teachers thought the mental health problems in students were caused by the family environment, psychological factors, the educational system, and a lack of mental health services. 4) Teachers desired smaller classes, improvement of the school environment, more time, regular mental health education, a special program for students with mental health problems, and the counseling staffs or consultants for the school mental health. 5) Teachers consulted with other teachers, the parents of the students, the counseling teachers, the health care teachers, the counseling institutes, the psychiatric clinics, and the principals in descending order to handle the hard case problems. The frequent reasons for failing in psychiatric consultations were the prejudice of parents against psychiatric services, the teachers’ sense of superiority in dealing with the problems of students, the prejudice of teachers themselves against psychiatric practice, and inaccessible professional consultation. 6) About 20.4% of teachers reported they had proposed psychiatric consultations or had recommended their students to receive psychiatric evaluations.