We investigated the food service management practices in child care centers operated by various types of foundations in the Chonbuk area of Korea. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 125 child care center directors. The statistical analysis was completed using an SPSS v11.5 program. Approximately 82.4% of the directors were women with an the average age of 45 years old. The average number of children in each public and private child care center was 84.7 and 88.8, respectively (P<.001), and the difference in time of operation was significant(P<.001). Only 20.8% of the centers employed a dietitian, whereas 92.0% of the centers employed a cook, thus, food service was not managed by professionals in most centers. In approximately 99.2% of the centers, meals were prepared in a conventional manner. The difference in daily meal frequency was significant(P<.05), with approximately 85.6% of the centers serving snacks twice a day primarily to supplement the intake of nutrients(4.44 point) and to add fun to the daily lives of the children(4.12 point). Approximately 40.7% of the directors of public centers and 57.6% of the directors of private centers responded that the most difficult aspect of food service management was financial management. Overall, 56.8% of the directors responded that the details of financial management had the greatest effect on their ability to improve the quality of food service. In most centers, the center director was also the purchasing manager and half of them purchased food every day. Approximately 97% of the directors responded that they do not include instant foods in their menu plans but they would use them if the children wanted to eat them. These results indicate that the food service management in child care centers in the Chonbuk area is relatively inadequate. We strongly recommend that they hire dietitians for food service administration and focus on strengthening sanitation management.