Effects of Cooking Activities on the Taste and Perception of Korean Foods among Upper Grade Elementary School Children

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects cooking activities on the taste and perception of Korean foods in upper grade school children. The cooking class program was designed as 16 lessons for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade school children, and it was implemented as an extracurricular activity. Each lesson included the origin and meaning of Korean foods and cooking. Thirty four children were recruited for participation in cooking class from two elementary schools in Changwon. The control group was recruited from a convenient sampling in each school. The pre- and post-implementation surveys were conducted for comparison of the effects of cooking class between the educated and control group. Children answered the self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire contained measures of demographic variables, eating culture, interest and preference, taste, perception, and knowledge of Korean foods. There were no significant differences in interest and preference on traditional Korean foods, however, the taste of experimental foods was increased by education (P