Abstract

This study was conducted for researching demand on dietary education of low-level elementary school students and to develop an activity based textbook and a teaching manual on the subject. For necessity of dietary education, 88.8% of subjects answered dietary education is needed. The desirable frequency of the education was once a week (65.7%). The most appropriate time for the education was "school lunch" (37.5%), "special activity" (29.9%), "regular class" (12.4%) and "after school activity" (12.1%). The most preferred educational method was "experiment and practice" (40.1%). The desirable educational materials were "computer materials" (20.7%), "actual objects" (20.1%), "videotapes" (16.5%), "photographs-pictures" (12.2%) and "fairy tales-cartoons" (12.2%). The students wanted dietary information as "cooking" (26.1%), "growth and nutrition" (23.7%) and "right food information" (20.1%). The textbook was composed of five major chapters, which were "Traditional Dietary Culture", "Food", "Dietary Habit", "Hygiene and Environment" and "Cooking". Each major chapter had five to six smaller chapters, adding up to total of 32 chapters. The textbook had fun characters, illustrations, photographs and cartoons to deliver the main theme of each chapter. The textbook was in activity format so that it coul be readily and directly used in actual classes. The teaching manual was composed of background, goals, teaching plans and teaching points. The smaller chapters had learning goals, teaching-learning resources, important points, teaching-learning processes and reference materials. Videos were produced to help cook five snacks in the cooking chapter. Also, "Healthy Song" was created to be used in classrooms. This textbook will be helpful in children's right dietary habits and growth.

• Keywords: elementary school students; dietary education; activity based textbook; teaching manual