Education for Improving Children’s Behaviors during Eating in a Japanese Nursery School

Nursery school is an important stage for improving children’s eating behaviors because eating behaviors are established in early childhood. Thus, this study aimed to establish an adequate method for educating children regarding such behaviors during early stages of development. To this end, we elucidated the causal effects of children’s behaviors during eating at a nursery school. Cross-sectional data were used. Behaviors during eating lunch, quantity of leftovers from meals, and children’s preferences for school lunch were measured. Causal effects between the measured variables were analyzed using the Bayesian network analysis. The causes leading to time spent talking were turning sideways, playing, and standing up. Turning sideways, playing, and standing up depended positively on the time spent of talking (p=0.01). The times spent of talking affected the time spent of holding foods in one’s mouth. The time spent of talking was positively depended by time spent of holding foods in one’s mouth (p=0.02). Decreasing the time spent turning sideways, playing, and standing up might decrease talking, which in turn may decrease the time spent holding food in one’s mouth. Instructing children not to turn sideways, play, or stand up would be an effective way to educate them on desirable behaviors during school lunch.