Factors influencing food waste during lunch of fourth-grade school children

Martins, Margarida Liz; Rodrigues, Sara; Cunha, Luís Miguel; Rocha, Ada

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.06.023

Cited by 41 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…children. The main factors identified as positively influencing the reduction of plate waste during lunch in primary schools were as follows: the presence of teachers during mealtimes, the possibility of children leaving the canteen whenever they want and the level of satisfaction with the sensory characteristics of meals [4]. Meantime, sensory characteristics and satisfaction with food is investigated by Ervina et al (2020) [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of a School Canteen to Understand Meal Duration Impact on Food Waste

Kodors

Zhukov

Zarembo

et al. 2021

ETR

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A system simulation is a one of the approaches to understand business processes or to explain them to other people. It is an excellent decision making solution to provide data-driven conclusions based on system modelling and experiments. This paper proposes simulation results of a school canteen. The aim of the research was to investigate the relation between a food waste amount and meal time duration. The proposed simulation was based on business process analysis, business process modelling, a Monte Carlo method and expert knowledge. The frequency distributions were constructed based on children meal duration observation completed by their mothers. It is a magnificent citizen science solution to involve mothers in the research because they can additionally better understand their children meal preferences and habits. Therefore, a questionnaire for citizens was developed, which can be applied to collect statistical data for model accuracy improvement and extension.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of a School Canteen to Understand Meal Duration Impact on Food Waste

Kodors

Zhukov

Zarembo

et al. 2021

ETR

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show abstract

“…Food waste was determined to be 36% in this study, corresponding to approximately 150 g per capita per meal-far above the limits of acceptability according to previous studies developed in different settings [9,15,16,18,27]. According to other authors, since there is no standard limit for food waste, each food service must monitor food waste as a routine to develop a target and define the limits according to specific characteristics and consumers [16,18,25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…The amount of food waste may be affected by several factors, such as the poor diversity of the menu, the inadequacy of menus to the food and cultural habits of older adults, inadequate per capita portions and poor appearance of meals [6,10,12,15,27]. Considering that meal portions are determined to satisfy the nutritional needs of older adults, high continuous values of plate waste may compromise their nutritional intake and contribute to undernutrition, reported as an important concern in this age group [4,9,15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Food Waste at a Portuguese Geriatric Institution

2021

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Care institutions attending to older adults are responsible for their food supply, which influences their health and quality of life. Food waste at care institutions has been reported to be a matter of great concern, that requires regular monitoring. In this study, we aim to quantify food waste in the food service of an elderly institution, both as leftovers and plate waste. Data collection was performed over 15 consecutive days, at lunch and dinner served to older adults. The aggregate weighing of food was performed before and after distribution, as well as after consumption. Leftovers and plate waste were calculated by the differences in weight. During the study period, 2987 meals were evaluated, corresponding to 1830 kg of food produced, of which only 67% was consumed. For each meal, approximately 610 g of food was produced per older adult, and only about 410 g were consumed, corresponding to 150 g of leftovers and 50 g of plate waste. Food waste represented 36.1% of meals served, composed of 24.1% leftovers and 12.0% plate waste. The wasted meals would be enough to feed 1486 older adults and would correspond to annual losses of approximately €107112. Leftovers and plate waste were above the limits of acceptability (below 6% and 10%, respectively), indicating excessive food waste. High values of leftovers are related to the food service system and staff, pointing to the need for improvements during the planning and processing of meals. On the other hand, high plate waste values are associated with consumers, indicating the low adequacy of the menu regarding to older adults’ habits and preferences.

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“…Baik and Lee have studied plate waste in rural Korean primary schools and demonstrated that children with regular plate waste had insufficient intakes of some nutrients, which might lead to growth impairment if the situation persists (19) . Nutritional inadequacy of lunches consumed and persistent plate waste could facilitate the intake of less-nutritious foods such as energy-dense, high-salt and high-sugar snacks and drinks available from competitive sources between main meals (20,23,24) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These reports may indicate that children are not fully benefiting from the meals offered (16,21,22) . Additionally, children who are not consuming enough food at lunch may consume higher quantities of less-nutritious foods during the afternoon (23,24) .…”

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confidence: 99%

School lunch nutritional adequacy: what is served, consumed and wasted

Martins

Rodrigues

Cunha

et al. 2020

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To determine nutritional adequacy of school lunch and to assess the impact of food waste on nutrient intake of primary school children. Design: The weighing method was used for evaluating initial servings and plate waste for lunch. Energy and nutritional content of meals served, consumed and wasted were estimated using the software Food Processor Plus. The mean nutritional value of food served and consumed, was compared with dietary guidelines. Setting: Portuguese public primary schools in the city of Porto. Participants: All 525 fourth-grade children, aged from 9 to 10 years old, attending to 21 public primary schools. Results: Overall, school lunches served did not meet the dietary guidelines for energy and nutrients, as only 12.5% of the evaluated meals were adequate for energy, 33.5% for proteins, 11.9% for carbohydrates and 57.1% for lipids. The majority of meals served were below the age-specific lower limit, namely for energy (83.7%) and carbohydrates (86.8%). The only exception, also unbalanced, was observed for proteins, as 42.4% of lunches served exceeded the recommended upper limit. Furthermore, lunches served and consumed by children did not meet the dietary guidelines for fibre and for the micronutrients evaluated. Children wasted 26% of the calories provided in lunches, corresponding to 91.5kcal, 25% of proteins and 29% of carbohydrates supplied. Conclusions: The lunches served and consumed by children at school canteens failed to meet nutritional standards. These results are not only a consequence of inadequate food portions served but also a result of the high plate waste values observed.

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Factors influencing food waste during lunch of fourth-grade school children

Cited by 41 publications

References 44 publications

Simulation of a School Canteen to Understand Meal Duration Impact on Food Waste

Simulation of a School Canteen to Understand Meal Duration Impact on Food Waste

Evaluation of Food Waste at a Portuguese Geriatric Institution

School lunch nutritional adequacy: what is served, consumed and wasted

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