The Study of Problems Relating to Lunch Program In Junior High Schools in Kaohsiung County Abstract The purposes of this study were to understand the current state of the lunch programs of junior high schools in Kaohsiung county, to analyze the present school lunch programs (SLP) in other cities of Taiwan, in the United States, and in Japan and then to discuss some relevant problems about the SLP of junior high schools in Kaohsiung County. Questionnaires were developed to survey the best modes ¡® management of the SLP, the best ways to enhance the quality of the SLP and the difficulties in the management of the SLP. The data of questionnaires were analyzed by Chi-square test. The following conclusions were drawn from the results of this study: 1. Modes of the SLP (1) For large-sized schools: the school authorities (SA) regarded public-owned and public-managed mode as the best mode of the SLP; the representatives of parents (ROP) regarded the public-owned and private-managed mode as the best mode of the SLP. (2) For medium-sized schools: the SA and the ROP both regarded public-owned and public-managed mode as the best mode of the SLP. (3) For small-sized schools: the SA regarded the co-managed mode as the best mode of the SLP; the ROP regarded public-owned and public-managed mode as the best mode of the SLP. 2. The management of the SLP ¡]1¡^For large-sized and medium-sized schools: the SA and the ROP both regarded the common management as the best mode. (2) For small-sized schools: the SA and the ROP both regarded the simple management as the best mode. 3. Relevant factors for improving the quality of the SLP (1) The SA considered the design of menu the most important factor for improving the SLP. The ROP considered the practice of lunch-time education the most important factor and the design of menu the second one. (2) The SA and the ROP both agreed that the most important task of kitchen management is the sanitation of kitchen environment, and the second one is the maintenance of cooking equipment. (3) Both the SA and the ROP agreed that the most important requirement of cooks is good cooking skills and the second one is good personal hygiene. (4) The SA thought that the most important factor of the effectiveness of the SLP lay in the effective management and the second one was the staff's professional ability. The ROP regarded the staff's professional ability as the most important factor and effective management as the second one. 4. The difficulties in the SLP (1) The difficulties in the staff's professional ability: both the SA and the ROP agreed that the main difficulties lay in lack of professional recipe designers and the insufficient experience of the SLP supervisors. (2) The difficulties in the budget of the SLP: both the SA and the ROP regarded that the SLP subsidies from the government and the lunch fee paid by students were quite insufficient. (3) The difficulties for the staff who are in charge of the SLP: both the SA and the ROP regarded that the difficulties lay in the staff's unwillingness to do the job under the heavy workload of their teaching and administrative duties. (4) The difficulties in the school cooking equipment: the SA and the ROP have different viewpoints. The SA regarded the major difficulties were insufficiency of lunch equipments and the cooking staff's insufficient ability to use the cooking equipments. The ROP pointed out that the difficulties lay in insufficiency of cooking equipments and discard of the cooking equipments. (5) The difficulties in the implementation of lunch-time education: both the SA and the ROP observed that the administrative unit in charge of the SLP did not take the lunch-time education seriously and the homeroom teachers did not carry it out completely. According to the conclusions of this study, the researcher presented the following suggestions for the reference of the education authorities and schools to improve the SLP: 1. To add a nutritionist to the cooking staff and provide relevant training for the SLP staff members to increase the personnel¡¦s professionalism. 2. To increase the government subsidies to solve the fisical difficulties of the SLP. 3. To reduce the workload of the staff members and increase their allowances in order to promote their willingness to work. 4. The SA should select the best mode of the SLP based on the school size. 5. To put emphases on the sanitation of the kitchen so as to ensure the safety and cleanness of food. 6. To put emphases on cooks' and the staff members' personal hygiene to ensure the good quality of the food they served. 7. To be down-to-earth with lunch-time education and to make students acquire good dietetic habits.