The Effects of Providing Cooking Activities by Using Inquiry Process to Develop Food Literacy of Young Children

Abstract

          The purposes of this study were (1) to study the change in food literacy of young children providing cooking activities by using inquiry process and (2) to compare food literacy of young children before and after providing cooking activities by using inquiry process.The target group consisted of 15 boys and girls, aged between 5 - 6 years old. They were studying in kindergarten level 2, second semester of academic year 2021 at Lamchedee School, Nongchok District Office, Bangkok.  The tools used in this study were (1) cooking activities by using inquiry process lesson plan (2) an assessment form of food literacy of young children which consisted of 3 aspects as food knowledge, food skills and food behavior (3) observational form and behavior recoding form in food literacy of young children. The data were analyzed by mean and standard deviation. Qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis.

          The results of the study revealed that (1) young children who received providing cooking activities by using inquiry process  had higher scores of food literacy add more. The aspect that had the most change in descending order was food behavior, food skills and food knowledge respectively. And (2) young children who have been participated in cooking activities by using inquiry process to promote food literacy. The mean scores on food literacy after the experiment were higher than before when using this activities.