Investigation into Korean School Milk Program Management and Dietitians' Perception of School Milk Program Improvement

Abstract

This study was aimed to investigate management conditions and dietitians' perception for improvement of school milk programs. Using an online sampling method, collected data from 1,723 dietitians nationwide were analyzed. The results show that 44.4% of respondents carried out the cyclic school milk program, providing various types of dairy products either weekly or monthly. Further, 80.3% of respondents answered that preference survey results were a determining factor in their choice of school milk provider, and 55.9% said that a school steering committee made the decision on relevant facts of the school milk program. For diversification of school milk type, 60.5% of respondents wanted to maintain the current system, and 39.5% answered that milk type needed to be diversified. The respondents preferred fermented milk products, functional milk, and processed milk, in order, if school milk type is diversified. To improve perception and knowledge about milk, 66.0% of respondents thought that nutrition education by a nutrition teacher would be the most effective, and parent's letters or a nutrition newsletter would be helpful. More than half of respondents (55.0%) disagreed with a merged program for school foodservice and milk.