Examination of Sociodemographic Correlates of Plate Waste in Early Adolescent Girls

Abstract

BackgroundStudies have reported that the proportion of food that is plated, uneaten and thrown away is high among youth in the school environment. To our knowledge, no studies have collected data on food waste over a 24‐hr period in early adolescents in the U.S. Further, few studies have investigated differences in food waste according to demographic characteristics. The mobile food record (mFR) has been found to be a feasible and acceptable method for measuring dietary intake in youth and may be used to collect data on food waste over the course of a day in real time.PurposeTo examine differences in food waste according to age, race/ethnicity, total household income and mother's education level in early adolescent girls 9 to 13 years in Oahu, Hawaii using the mFR.MethodsParticipants (n=72) used the mFR for 3 days to capture food eaten and any leftovers. A trained analyst met with each girl to review images from the mFR to classify the outcome of food remaining after each eating occasion. Participants’ mothers provided demographic information. The amount of food wasted was estimated. Data were entered into the RapidCalc nutrition database to quantify amount of food waste by food groups. Differences in the proportion of each food group wasted according to demographics were examined using Wilcoxon or Kruskal‐Wallis nonparametric tests.ResultsAll participants’ mothers completed at least 4 years of college. Participants whose mothers only completed college had at least twice the amount of waste with regards to total energy (p=0.008), dairy (p=0.033) and grains (p=0.029) than those whose mothers had a higher level of education. Compared to girls who identified as white or Asian, girls in the other race category (Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Some Other Race) had at least twice the amount of waste with regards to total energy (p=0.018), grains (p=0.012) and dairy (p=0.006). No differences in waste according to age and total household income were found.ConclusionDifferences were observed in food waste over 3 days among the girls according to mother's education level and race/ethnicity. No differences were found with regards to age and total household income. Findings suggest that educational campaigns to reduce food waste may benefit from tailoring to specific groups.Support or Funding InformationSupported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project, HAW02026‐H, Accession no. 1000090. Also supported by NIH grant U54MD007584.