The School Meal System and School-Based Nutrition Education in Korea

Since the school meal was first served in Korea in 1953, there have been many changes, particularly during the last decade. Recently, the representative features of the school meal system became free school meals for all pupils in elementary school and a nutrition teacher system in schools. These policies were suggested to implement more and more the educational role of the school meal. The rate of schools serving school meals reached 100% as of 2013, and 99.6% students eat a school meal each school day. Nutrition teachers were assigned to schools from 2007, and 4,704 (47.9%) nutrition teachers of all nutrition employees were employed in schools as of 2013. At present, various nutrition education materials are being development by local education offices and government agencies, and various education activities are being implemented spiritedly. The ultimate goal of school meals and school-based nutrition education are as follows: 1) improvement of the health of students; 2) promotion of the traditional Korean diet; and 3) extension of opportunities for a healthier dietary life.