| Abstract: | After briefly reviewing factors affecting questionnaire design with reference to Primary School children, the paper explores three methods of determining food preferences of Middle School children. The overall patterns of food preferences that emerged were similar although there were significant differences obtained for 25% of the 100 individual food items investigated. The reading ability of the pupils influenced the type of questionnaire that could be used, especially for junior schools, although other factors such as amount of paper used and analysis time were also considered. The ‘recognition’ of the name of menu items was investigated and most popular or unpopular items were well known. There was no overall influence on the preferences shown by the sex or the age of the child, although children who stayed at school tended to have higher preference ratios for dishes than those who never stayed to school lunch. |
