This study was conducted to investigate the cognition of elementary, middle and high school students about food additives, develop a nutrition education program for food additives based on the results, and evaluate the educational effectiveness of the program. Through the developed educational program, students can have the right perception of food additives and improve unconditional negative perception.
The subjects of the cognitive questionnaire were 133 elementary school students, 65 middle school students, and 201 high school students in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. After developing a nutrition education program based on cognition survey, it was revised and supplemented through pilot surveys. The subjects of the pilot education and educational effectiveness evaluation were derived for 83 elementary school students, 98 middle school students, and 59 high school students in Seoul and Gyeonggi.
The results of the cognitive survey are as follows, both elementary, middle, and high schools responded that food additives were unlikely to be more dangerous than other substances. Among food additives, interest in the safety of food pigments and food additives was found to be the highest. In the case of middle and high school students, significant results were shown on the necessity of food additives after pilot education. In addition, elementary and middle school students showed significant results in questions about food additives affecting health. In addition, all three groups responded that education related to food additives was necessary. For elementary and middle school students, 'whether food additives have adverse effects on our health', 'whether they know the role and types of food additives', 'whether they know that food additives are managed by the government', and 'food additives' Significant results were found when comparing the results of the survey before and after the education on 'whether you think education is necessary'. Satisfaction with the food additive education program was very interesting for both elementary, middle, and high schools and responded that it was good to understand. The results of the differences before and after the implementation of the esucation program are as follows. Significant results were also confirmed in the participation level.
In conclusion, as a result of this study, it was confirmed that elementary, middle, and high school students' congnition of food additives was not high, and the correct level of cognition was low. In addition; satisfaction with education on food additives after education was high, and it was found that they were familiar with the correct knowledge of food additives. This study is expected to be a basic data for food additive education in the future.