A shokuiku (food and nutrition education) program taught in English with an international exchange deepens students' interest in learning in Japanese elementary schools

Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined the educational effect of international exchange on food/nutrition and English in Japanese elementary schools. One hundred eight students in the 6th grade were assigned to the exchange group (n=38) or the non-exchange group (n=70). All students took three food/nutrition classes in English before the exchange. The exchange country was Korea and three surveys were conducted : baseline, pre-exchange, and post-exchange. The attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior about food/nutrition and English communication were examined. The results were as follows : 1) Regarding interest in learning, statistically favorable changes were observed only in the exchange group between the baseline and subsequent surveys. 2) As for attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior about food/nutrition between the baseline and pre-exchange surveys, there were favorable changes in attitudes (p=0.003) and behavior (p=0.009) in the exchange group. 3) The exchange group gave more positive responses regarding nutritional balance than the non-exchange group on the pre-exchange surveys (attitudes, p=0.008 ; self-efficacy, p=0.029 ; behavior, p=0.011). 4) The exchange group showed a significantly higher interest rate in Korean meals after the exchange (p=0.049). The results showed that a food/nutrition program taught in English with an international exchange deepens students' interest in learning about food/nutrition and English.