Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine food hygiene knowledge and health practice levels of elementary school students at foodservice in the Suwon area. Of the 500 upper graders from three elementary schools, 486 students (97.2%) participated in the study. The questionnaire was composed of general characteristics including experience of serving food at school, food hygiene knowledge (25 questions), and health practice (18 questions). The results were as follows: The education experiences of food hygiene were below 40% though most students (88.1%) participated in providing food at foodservice. The percentage of correct answers in food hygiene knowledge was over 70% in most questions, but relatively lower in food preservation temperature (44.7%) and food poisoning bacteria (43.2%). When we examined food hygiene behavior of elementary school students in 5scales, the level of personal hygiene management was 4.04, sanitary management in food product was 3.62, environmental hygiene was 3.92, and foodborn disease and food microorganism was 3.81. Each level in each subarea was significantly related in the frequency of hygiene education experiences. Finally, the food hygiene knowledge was positively correlated with its behavior level in elementary school foodservice. These results suggested that the knowledge of food hygiene may affect its behavior, and therefore, regular education of food hygiene at home and school would be needed to improve food safety in foodservice.
