Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate junior high school students' and their parents' interests, preferences, and positive perceptions regarding Korean traditional food. This study may be used to provide the basic information for establishing an educational program about Korean traditional food. The self-administered questionnaires for students and their parents were used to examine the general characteristics of participants, perceptions of Korean traditional food, and experiences with traditional food at home. The data was analyzed by t-test and Chi-square test. The results are as follows. First, most students had a lower interest, preference, and positive perception of Korean traditional food than their parents. Second, the perception of traditional food among students was influenced by their experience with traditional food at home and the perceptions of their parents. Therefore, in order to keep and develop the Korean traditional food culture, an educational program for students as well as their parents to teach the advantages and the values of Korean traditional food, is needed. An educational program would help students have a more positive perception of Korean traditional food. In addition, this may encourage parents to serve more traditional foods at home and would increase the interest in eating and cooking Korean food. Thus, establishing an educational program could be a successful method for maintaining the Korean traditional food heritage for future generations.

Keywords

• Korean traditional foods;
• perception;
• students;
• parents