The Relationship between Enjoying Eating and the Dietary Life in the Elementary School Children

児童が楽しく食べるための背景を明らかにするために大阪府内の小学校３年生から６年生の368人を対象に食事を中心とした日常生活に関する質問紙調査を実施した。学年，学習意欲，三食楽しみの程度の相違による食生活や健康状態を比較したところ，（１）中学年に比べて高学年では食事の楽しみ・食事中の会話や食事の手伝いなどの楽しみが減少しており，（２）学習意欲が高い群は学習意欲が低い群に比べて食のリズムが確立し，食事を楽しみにしており食生活が良好で，食事の手伝いをよくする傾向がみられ，（３）三食楽しみな者は三食楽しみでない者に比べ食生活･生活習慣等ともに良好であった。重回帰分析結果からも，楽しく食べるためには，食事づくりに児童を参加させ，食事中の会話を楽しめるよう食環境を整え，家族揃って食べる機会を増やすこと，食のリズムを整えることの重要性がが示唆された。The purpose of this study was to clarify the factors related to enjoying eating among children. A questionnaire was conducted among 368 elementary school children from the third to the sixth grade about dietary life, lifestyle, and health condition. The main results were as follows: (1) Compared with the middle-grade children, the high-grade children showed lower percentages in enjoying eating, enjoying conversation at meal time, and enjoying taking part in cooking. (2) The higher score group in learning motivation had better appetite, more enjoying eating at breakfast, and better dietary life. (3) The higher score group in enjoying the daily meal had better appetite, sharing in cooking, coeating with family, better lifestyle, and better physical health condition than the other group. (4) The results of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that enjoying the daily meal correlated with enjoying co-eating with family, better appetite, healthy dietary life, physical health, and taking part in cooking. These results suggested that importance of taking part in cooking, co-eating with family, and having conversation at meal time for the elementary school children to enjoy eating