School Lunch Waste Among Middle School Students
Open accessAbstract
Background The National School Lunch Program has been guided by modest nutrient standards, and the palatability of meals, which drives consumption, receives inadequate attention. School food waste can have important nutritional and cost implications for policymakers, students, and their families.Purpose Nutrient losses and economic costs associated with school meal waste were examined. The study also assessed if school foods served were valid proxies for foods consumed by students.Methods Plate waste measurements were collected from middle school students in Boston attending two Chef Initiative schools (n=1609) and two control schools (n=1440) during a 2-year pilot study (2007-2009) in which a professional chef trained cafeteria staff to make healthier school meals. The costs associated with food waste were calculated and the percentage of foods consumed was compared with a gold standard of 85% consumption. Analyses were conducted in 2010-2011.Results Overall, students consumed less than the required/recommended levels of nutrients. An estimated $432,349 of food (26.1% of the total food budget) was discarded by middle school students annually at lunch in these Boston middle schools. For most meal components, substantially less than 85% was consumed.Conclusions There is substantial food waste among middle school students in Boston. Overall, students' nutrient consumption levels were below school meal standards, and foods served were not valid proxies for foods consumed. The costs associated with discarded foods are high; if translated nationally for school lunches, roughly $1,238,846,400 annually is wasted. Students might benefit if additional focus were given to the quality and palatability of school meals.
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Overall waste levels in this study were similar to those previously found in studies examining food waste in schools.
“The overall waste levels seen in this study were similar to those previously founds in studies examining food waste in schools.5,22”
From Amount of Time to Eat Lunch Is Associated with Children’s Selection and Consumption of School Meal Entrée, Fruits, Vegetables, and Milk (2016) · cites this paper as [22]
Although milk is required to be offered to every student at every school meal, the majority of school-age children fail to meet dairy consumption recommendations.
“Although milk is required to be offered to every student at every school meal, the majority of school-age children fail to meet dairy consumption recommendations (56,65) .”
From ‘It's just so much waste.’ A qualitative investigation of food waste in a universal free School Breakfast Program (2015) · cites this paper as [56]
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- Authors
- Cohen, J. F. W., Richardson, S., Austin, S. B., Economos, C. D., & Rimm, E. B.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Tufts University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cohen, Juliana F.W.
- Venue
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-02
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 114-121
- ISSN
- 0749-3797 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3788640
- OpenAlex
- W121469886
- Cited by
- 180
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 29.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Nutritional Epidemiology of Cancer Education and Career Development Program (R25 CA 098566)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- plate waste, junior high school students, National School Lunch Program, nutrient intake, food waste cost, school meals, food intake measurement, school nutrition policy
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Boston, Child, Costs and Cost Analysis, Feeding Behavior, Female, Food, Food Preferences, Food Services, Humans, Male, Menu Planning, Nutritive Value, Pilot Projects, Schools, Students, Lunch
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