Effect of obesity on the Satisfaction with School Lunches and the Behavior of Leaving Lunch Food in Elementary School Children

Kwon, Sunja

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of obesity on the satisfaction with school lunches and school lunch leftovers of elementary school children in the Kyeonggi area. The study was carried out on 235 children(male : 111, female :124) in December of 2000. The results are summarized as follows. A Rohrer index was used to define obesity. The proportions of severe underweight, underweight, normal, overweight, and obese were 0.9%, 16.6%, 57.9%,17.0%, and 7.7% respectively. For the data analysis, the subjects were divided into 3 groups : an underweight group(Rohrer index 109 including severe underweight), a normal group(Rohrer index 110-140), and an obese group(Rohrer index 141 including overweight). With regard to the satisfaction with school lunches, the proportions of children who were satisfied, neutral, and unsatisfied were 27.2%, 59.6% and 13.2% respectively. The proportion of the satisfaction with school lunches was significantly higher in the male group than in the female group(p<0.05), and the proportion of the dissatisfaction with school lunches was significantly increased with obesity index(p<0.05). The largest proportion of children who were satisfied with school lunches answered they felt hungry(56.3%) and the food tasted good(42.2%). Children sho were not satisfied with school lunches answered that the food was not tasty(93.5%), they did not have ant appetite(9.7%), and others. The children not finishing school lunches(leftovers) occasionally or always were 47.7% of the subjects. The behavior of leaving lunch foods was not significantly related to the gender or the frequency of eating snacks, wile it was positively related with dissatisfaction with school lunches(p<0.01), obesity index(p<0.05), and the decreased frequency of eating meals per day(p<0.01). The reasons of school lunch leftovers were food dislikes(67.9%), excess of quantity(39.3%), tastelessness(31.3%), poor appetite(13.4%), and other. The children eating meals twice, 3 times, and 4 times per day were 18.7%, 74.9%, and 6.4% of the subjects respectively. The proportions of the obese and the satisfaction with school lunches were not changed significantly according to the frequency of eating meals, while the proportion of children leaving school lunches was significantly higher in the group of eating meals twice per day than in the other groups(p<0.01). The frequency of eating snacks was not related to the obesity index, the proportion of school lunch leftovers, or the frequency of eating meals, while the proportion of satisfaction with school lunches was significantly higher in the group of eating snacks 1-2 times per day than in the other groups(p<0.01). In conclusion, it is necessary to have children enjoy school lunches with efforts to improve the food's taste in the school food services and to reexamine the serving sizes for the children, in addition to the nutrition education for the children to eat a variety of foods.