Food Waste is Reduced when Elementary-School Children Have Recess before Lunch

Getlinger, Mary Jane; Laughlin, Carol V.T; Bell, Elizabeth J.; Akre, Christine; Arjmandi, Bahram H.

doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(96)00245-3

Cited by 68 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…In the published scientific literature, different strategies are found aiming to achieve plate waste reduction at primary schools (4,6,13,(22)(23)(24)(25)30,31) . However, effective results of these interventions are scarce.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the different strategies proposed to reduce plate waste at school canteens have acted on the determinants. The main strategies have focused on nutrition education, adequacy of food provision at school, adjustment of the portion sizes to children's nutritional needs, meal time adequacy, improvement of the canteen environment and also the foods' sensory characteristics (4,6,13,(22)(23)(24)(25) . Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the majority of these strategies was not evaluated.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools – experimental evaluation

Martins

Rodrigues

Cunha

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To determine and compare the effect of two interventions in reducing the plate waste of school lunches. Design: A between-group analysis was conducted among children from three primary schools: (i) a group receiving intervention A, designed for children and focusing on nutrition education and food waste; (ii) a group receiving intervention B, intended for teachers and focusing on the causes and consequences of food waste; and (iii) a control group with no intervention. For each child, physical weighing of individual meals and leftovers was performed on three non-consecutive weeks at baseline (T0), 1 week (T1, short term) and 3 months (T2, medium term) following the intervention. Plate waste was recorded for a total of 1742 lunches during 14 d over eight different menus. Setting: Portuguese public primary schools in the city of Porto. Subjects: All fourth-grade children (n 212) attending the three preselected schools. Results: After intervention A focusing on nutrition education designed for children, a decrease in soup waste was observed compared with the control group. The effect was greater at T1 (−11·9 (SE 2·8) %; P < 0·001) than at T2 (−5·8 (SE 4·4) %; P = 0·103). The plate waste of identical main dishes decreased strongly at T1 (−33·9 (SE 4·8) %; P < 0·001). However, this effect was not found at T2 (−13·7 (SE 3·2) %; P < 0·001). After intervention B involving teachers, plate waste decreased at T2 (−5·5 (SE 1·9) % for soup; −5·4 (SE 2·4) % for identical main dishes). Conclusions: Nutrition education designed for children was more effective in the short than the medium term. Thus, this kind of intervention was not effective in reducing food waste in the medium term. In contrast, an intervention focusing on teachers revealed better results in the medium term than in the short term.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools – experimental evaluation

Martins

Rodrigues

Cunha

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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“…4,7 The majority of elementary schools that offer lunch-time recess do so after the students eat lunch. 4,37,[41][42][43][44] Many school wellness councils have adopted the "Recess Before Lunch" concept which stems from studies that examined food waste by students in relation to the timing of their recess. [42][43][44] When students have recess before lunch, more time is taken for lunch and less food is wasted.…”

Section: Duration and Timing Of Recessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4,37,[41][42][43][44] Many school wellness councils have adopted the "Recess Before Lunch" concept which stems from studies that examined food waste by students in relation to the timing of their recess. [42][43][44] When students have recess before lunch, more time is taken for lunch and less food is wasted. In addition, teachers and researchers noted an improvement in the student behavior at meal time, which carried into the classroom in the afternoon.…”

Section: Duration and Timing Of Recessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Crucial Role of Recess in School

Murray¹,

Ramstetter²

2013

Pediatrics

168

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Recess is at the heart of a vigorous debate over the role of schools in promoting the optimal development of the whole child. A growing trend toward reallocating time in school to accentuate the more academic subjects has put this important facet of a child’s school day at risk. Recess serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom. But equally important is the fact that safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it. Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education—not a substitute for it. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.

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“…Wansink et al [20] stated that children eating with larger bowls wasted significantly more than those with smaller ones. Getlinger et al [21] proposed that scheduling recess before eating lunch would help to significantly reduce food waste. The research of Casimir [22] suggested that the large amount of food waste generated in Sweden was strongly related to children's ignorance of the impact of food waste on the environment and ethical issues associated with it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plate Waste in School Lunch Programs in Beijing, China

et al. 2016

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School plate waste is of particular concern worldwide due to its adverse impacts not only on resource use and the environment, but also on students' health, physical maturation, and academic achievement in the long term. Previous studies on school plate waste have all been conducted in industrialized countries, and more studies are badly needed in developing countries. In this paper, we report a pilot study on the patterns and causes of plate waste in school lunch programs in Beijing, China, by a combination of physical weighing, questionnaire survey, and semi-structured interview approaches. Our results show that the average amount of food waste generated by school students in Beijing in 2014 was 130 g/cap/meal, accounting for 21% of total food served. Staple food (43%) and vegetables (42%) were the dominant proportions. Buffet meals resulted in less plate waste than packed meals and set meals. Food supply patterns, the quality of canteen service, and the dietary habit and students' knowledge of food production were the main influencing factors behind plate waste. To our best knowledge, our pilot study provides a first understanding of the overlooked plate waste in school lunch programs in China, and a good basis for further analysis in this field, and will be helpful in informing policy-making in relevant nutrition and education programs in schools in China.

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Food Waste is Reduced when Elementary-School Children Have Recess before Lunch

Cited by 68 publications

References 1 publication

Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools – experimental evaluation

Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools – experimental evaluation

The Crucial Role of Recess in School

Plate Waste in School Lunch Programs in Beijing, China

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