Elnakib Sara, Subhit Sabrina, Shukaitis Jennifer, Rowe Amy, Cava Jeanine, Quick Virginia
Department of Family & Community Health Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Apr 3;21(4):437. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21040437.
Food waste is a major contributor to climate change. Schools offer a unique opportunity to educate on this issue while also reducing food waste generation; however, few climate-change education curricula that include a food waste component have been developed and tested with fidelity. Thus, the purpose of this cluster randomized controlled study was to assess the effectiveness of a climate change and food waste education program called NJ Leaves No Bite Behind (NJLNBB) among fifth-grade students. Lessons on food waste and sustainable food behaviors were developed that aligned with NJ Student Learning Standards for Climate Change and Next-Generation Science Standards. Participants (n = 162) completed pre- and post-test surveys that assessed knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors. Post-test, the experimental group (n = 102) had significantly ( < 0.05) higher mean scores in knowledge, social norms, behavioral intentions, and perceived behavioral control compared to the control group (n = 60), with medium effect sizes, as determined by partial eta-squared. There were no significant between-group differences in mean score attitudes, self-efficacy, motivation to comply, or climate-friendly behaviors post-test. Almost three-quarters of participants who received the program agreed or strongly agreed the lessons were fun (75.5%), liked the card games (72.5), and learned a lot (78.4%). These findings are promising in terms of teaching adolescents the impacts of food waste on the climate.
食物浪费是气候变化的主要促成因素。学校提供了一个独特的机会来开展关于这个问题的教育，同时也减少食物浪费的产生；然而，很少有包含食物浪费内容的气候变化教育课程得到忠实的开发和测试。因此，这项整群随机对照研究的目的是评估一项名为“新泽西不留一口食物”（NJLNBB）的气候变化与食物浪费教育项目在五年级学生中的有效性。开发了与新泽西州气候变化学生学习标准和下一代科学标准相一致的关于食物浪费和可持续食物行为的课程。参与者（n = 162）完成了评估知识、态度、自我效能感和行为的前测和后测调查。后测时，与对照组（n = 60）相比，实验组（n = 102）在知识、社会规范、行为意图和感知行为控制方面的平均得分显著更高（< 0.05），部分 eta 平方确定的效应量为中等。后测时，组间在平均得分态度、自我效能感、遵守动机或气候友好行为方面没有显著差异。接受该项目的参与者中，近四分之三的人同意或强烈同意这些课程很有趣（75.5%）、喜欢纸牌游戏（72.5%）并且学到了很多东西（78.4%）。就向青少年传授食物浪费对气候的影响而言，这些发现很有前景。
