Niaki Shahrbanou F, Moore Carolyn E, Chen Tzu-An, Weber Cullen Karen
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017 Jan;117(1):95-101. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2016.08.005.
Children may not receive nutritional benefits from school lunch meals if they do not eat the foods served.
This study investigated whether there were differences in school lunch foods consumed and wasted by grade level of elementary school students.
In this cross-sectional study, anonymous meal observations were conducted after students selected their reimbursable school lunch meals in the cafeteria lunch line. The amounts of foods selected and consumed were recorded using the quarter waste method and food waste was calculated using the information recorded.
PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: During the spring of 2013, eight elementary schools (50% low income) enrolling children in kindergarten through grade 5 in one school district in the Houston, TX, area were selected by the Child Nutrition Director.
The amount of calories and foods consumed and the percentage wasted were assessed.
Analysis of covariance and post hoc analysis were used to examine food consumption and plate waste by grade level (kindergarten and grade 1 [K-Gr1], grades 2 and 3 [Gr2-3], and grades 4 and 5 [Gr4-5]), controlling for student sex and school-level free/reduced priced meal eligibility.
There were 568 nonrandom lunch meal observations of students included in the analyses. Approximately 48% of the observations were from boys; 50% were from low-income schools, and were evenly divided by grade. In general, students in K-Gr1 consumed fewer calories than both Gr2-3 and Gr4-5, and Gr2-3 students consumed significantly fewer calories than Gr4-5. K-Gr1 students also consumed less and wasted more total and red-orange vegetables, total/whole/refined grains, and total protein foods than the older students. Gr2-3 students wasted more calories and total grains than Gr4-5 students. K-Gr1 students wasted more fruit than Gr2-3 students.
Overall, younger students in elementary schools (K-Gr-1) consumed less of the foods they selected for their lunch meals, and wasted more than older elementary school students. Future studies should investigate why younger children wasted more food and potential strategies to reduce food waste by younger students.
如果孩子们不吃学校午餐提供的食物，他们可能无法从这些午餐中获得营养益处。
本研究调查了小学生不同年级在学校午餐食物的食用量和浪费量上是否存在差异。
在这项横断面研究中，学生们在自助餐厅午餐队伍中选择可报销的学校午餐后，进行了匿名的用餐观察。使用四分之一浪费法记录所选和食用的食物量，并根据记录的信息计算食物浪费量。
参与者/地点：2013年春季，德克萨斯州休斯顿地区一个学区的儿童营养主任挑选了八所小学（50%为低收入学校），这些学校招收幼儿园至五年级的学生。
评估摄入的卡路里量和食物量以及浪费的百分比。
使用协方差分析和事后分析，按年级水平（幼儿园和一年级[K - Gr1]、二年级和三年级[Gr2 - 3]、四年级和五年级[Gr4 - 5]）检查食物消耗和餐盘浪费情况，同时控制学生性别和学校层面的免费/低价餐资格。
分析纳入了568次学生非随机午餐用餐观察。大约48%的观察来自男生；50%来自低收入学校，且各年级分布均匀。总体而言，K - Gr1年级的学生摄入的卡路里比Gr2 - 3和Gr4 - 5年级的学生都少，且Gr2 - 3年级的学生摄入的卡路里明显少于Gr4 - 5年级的学生。K - Gr1年级的学生在总食用量和红色或橙色蔬菜、总/全/精制谷物以及总蛋白质食物的食用量上也比高年级学生少，且浪费更多。Gr2 - 3年级的学生比Gr4 - 5年级的学生浪费更多的卡路里和总谷物。K - Gr1年级的学生比Gr2 - 3年级的学生浪费更多的水果。
总体而言，小学低年级学生（K - Gr - 1）午餐所选食物的食用量较少，且比高年级小学生浪费更多。未来的研究应调查年幼儿童浪费更多食物的原因以及减少年幼儿童食物浪费的潜在策略。
