Analytic Hierarchy Process approach to estimate weights of menu management in the school foodservice / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#This study used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to evaluate the relative importance of the factors that school nutrition teachers and dietitians consider during menu planning for school foodservices across various educational levels. @*Methods@#An online survey was conducted from December 2023 to January 2024. The hierarchical structure for school foodservice menu management was developed through content analysis, consisting of five high-level categories and 3–4 low-level factors.Questionnaires were distributed to 395 nutrition teachers and dietitians from kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. One hundred and sixty-six responses were received, resulting in a 42.0% return rate. These responses were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS Statistics. @*Results@#The most commonly referenced sources for school foodservice menu planning were ‘menus obtained from websites’ (19.4%). The most significant challenge encountered was ‘incorporating students’ preferences’ (18.6%). In the hierarchy of categories considered for school foodservice menu management, ‘employees and facilities’ ranked highest (0.2347), followed by ‘preference’ (0.2312), ‘nutrition balance’ (0.2027), ‘cooking process’ (0.1726), and ‘food materials’ (0.1588). Within each category, the top-ranked factors were ‘employees’ cooking skills’ (0.3759), ‘students’ preferences’ (0.4310), ‘dietary reference intakes’ (0.4968), ‘foodservice hygiene’ (0.4374), and ‘food costs’ (0.4213). The study also compared the relative importance of factors according to the educational levels, and the top-ranked factors were the same across all educational levels. In particular, ‘students’ preferences’, ‘dietary reference intake’, and ‘food costs’ aligned with the top three challenges in school foodservice menu planning. @*Conclusion@#Enhancing working conditions for school foodservice employees and developing menu planning methods that accommodate students’ preferences are necessary. These findings will provide foundational data for future school foodservice menu management strategies.