Development Economics Group and Wageningen Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Development Economics Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Appetite. 2023 Apr 1;183:106485. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106485. Epub 2023 Feb 4.
Schools are a major source of food waste and an important setting for achieving dietary improvements. Few studies explore the links between food waste and nutrition. This study measured individual plate waste of about 1700 primary school children in peri-urban Viet Nam, adding to evidence on school food waste in low- and middle-income countries. We used survey data to explore whether food waste is associated with personal characteristics such as sex, knowledge and attitudes about nutritious foods. Qualitative interviews and focus groups with teachers, parents, food providers and children helped identify potential causes of food waste. The average student wasted 23% of the food served (approximately 85 g) during lunch, which roughly equates to 15.3 kg of food in a school year. Vegetables were wasted most: children left almost half of their portion unconsumed. Boys wasted less food than girls. Better knowledge and attitudes about fruits and vegetables are associated with less waste of these foods. A large portion was associated with a higher share of wasted food, suggesting the potential trade-off between efforts to cut food waste and efforts to increase consumption of nutritious foods. Students were dissatisfied with the quality of the dishes, especially vegetables were evaluated as undercooked, served too cold and too oily. To reduce food waste, it is critical for schools to prepare food in line with students' preferences. Food waste reduction could be treated as an intermediate step towards ultimate policy goals such as healthier food consumption.
学校是食物浪费的主要源头,也是改善饮食的重要场所。很少有研究探讨食物浪费与营养之间的联系。本研究测量了越南城乡结合部约 1700 名小学生的个人餐盘浪费量,为中低收入国家的学校食物浪费问题增添了证据。我们利用调查数据,探讨了食物浪费是否与学生的个人特征(如性别、有关营养食品的知识和态度)有关。与教师、家长、食品供应商和学生进行的定性访谈和焦点小组讨论有助于确定食物浪费的潜在原因。平均每个学生在午餐时浪费了所提供食物的 23%(约 85 克),这大约相当于一学年浪费 15.3 公斤食物。浪费最多的是蔬菜:孩子们几乎剩下一半没吃。男孩比女孩浪费的食物少。对水果和蔬菜有更好的了解和态度与这些食物的浪费减少有关。食物的份量与浪费食物的比例呈正相关,这表明在减少食物浪费和增加营养食品消费之间可能存在权衡。学生对菜肴的质量不满意,特别是蔬菜被认为烹饪不熟、太凉和太油腻。为了减少食物浪费,学校必须根据学生的喜好准备食物。减少食物浪费可以作为实现更健康食品消费等最终政策目标的中间步骤。