The Comparisons of Elementary School Children's Food Purchasing and Consumer Competency for a Healthier Diet by Their Attitude toward the Meal Management

Park, Ok Hee; Lee, KyoungAe

Abstract

In this study elementary school children's food purchasing and consumer competency for a healthier diet were compared by their attitude toward the meal management. The subjects were 779 sixth grade elementary school children (417 boys and 362 girls) in Busan. They were classified into three groups: 'High' was composed of 226 subjects who had more than the mean +1/2 SD of attitude toward the meal management; 'Medium' was composed of 343 subjects who had the mean +/-1/2 SD; and 'Low' was composed of 210 subjects who had the less than the mean -1/2 SD. The results were as follows. The high group had less pocket money than the low group, and thought that their allowances were adequate to their needs. They also had a habit of entering amounts into an account book. The children in the low group purchased mostly snacks without making or practicing a budget. The high group purchased yogurt, fruit, or bread as snacks more frequently than the low group. More children checked the nutrient facts on the package in high group than in the low group. There were no significant differences in the consumer's knowledge of a healthy diet among the groups; but there were significant differences in the consumer's skill, and the consumer's attitude toward a healthy diet among the groups. The high group had higher skills and more positive attitudes than the low group. This research suggests that education can elevate interest and can help develop more positive attitudes toward healthy diets among children. The education can help them to develop planned food purchasing habits, and improve their consumer competency for a healthy diet.