Fruit and Vegetable Food Waste is Correlated With Low Skin Carotenoid Levels in Middle School Students

Background

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides $14.2 billion annually to serve 4.9 billion lunches. While policies are in place to ensure students consume items from all food groups, food waste and poor diet quality remain prevalent. Qualitative photograph estimation is frequently utilized to assess food waste. The Veggie Meter® (VM) is a validated tool that objectively evaluates fruit and vegetable (FV) intake by measuring skin carotenoid levels.

Objective

Qualitatively assess tray waste among middle school students utilizing before and after lunch tray photographs while quantitatively comparing their VM scores to FV tray waste.

Study Design, Settings, Participants

Researchers photographed 57 student lunch trays at a rural middle school. The VM assessed FV intake in a subsample of 39 students.

Measurable Outcome/Analysis

Trays were tracked using a non-identifiable ID code. Photographs were matched and independently coded by three coders using the Comstock indirect measurement technique, in which scores (0-5) inversely reflect intake of each food item. Inter-rater agreement was 90%. Means and standard deviations were calculated for individual food items and total lunch tray waste. VM scores range from 0-850, with higher scores indicating higher FV intake. A Pearson's correlation determined the relationship between VM score and individual food item intake on a subsample of participants. Significance was set at p<0.05.

Results

On average, 50% of food on the lunch trays was discarded. Of all tray waste, 75% of the participants discarded uneaten fruits and vegetables. Overall, participants had low VM scores (173.5±61.1; n = 39). There was a significant negative correlation between VM scores and waste of vegetable items (r=-0.37, p=0.035) and fruit items (r=-0.38, p=0.021).

Conclusions

Considering the vast NSLP funding, the issue of food waste should be considered. This study revealed high tray waste, with the highest amount documented in FV items. Further, students' food waste was correlated with low FV intake. This highlights the need for programming that addresses food waste and FV consumption in rural middle school students.

Funding

NIFA