Recent research suggests that 60 % of quantified plate waste in school canteens was caused by only 20 % of students. This finding indicates a large potential for minimising plate waste through better-tailored interventions targeting individuals with a high-waste profile. This study uses the triangulation of three methods that combine both qualitative and quantitative approaches to answer the following two research questions: (1) “Which characteristics and behavioural patterns correlate with high plate waste generation?” and (2) “What derivations can be drawn from these findings to inform better-tailored conceptualisations of interventions to decrease plate waste?”. To investigate the relationship between plate waste generation and the parameters “age”, “sex”, “foreign background”, “educational background of parents”, “extroversion” and “group dynamics”, a correlation analysis has been conducted with food waste and school data on the national level and complemented with a correlation analysis on the local level based on observation data collected at five schools in the municipality of Uppsala. These findings were put in context with additional insights won through interviews with canteen staff at the same five schools. Each parameter was evaluated by combining the results of the applied methods as far as applicable. The strongest correlation was found for the parameter “age”, indicating that older students cause more plate waste. The findings for students’ sex on the local level are especially interesting because, in contrast to the national trend and results from previous research, male students were found to waste more than females. The parameter “foreign background” could be assigned with tendencies for a positive and “educational background of parents” with tendencies for a negative correlation with plate waste generation but both warrant further investigation due to limited assessability in the scope of this study. Students’ degrees of extroversion and the presence of group dynamics appear to be correlated and tend to result in higher amounts of plate waste. It was found that strong individuals with a “leader”-character, who tend to be located on the more extroverted side of the scale, can exert a strong influence on other students’ eating decisions. This peer pressure appears to be especially strong among female students and increase with age. Based on these findings, future interventions are recommended to focus on: students from 6th grade onwards (potentially with a special focus on upper secondary schools), female students (not because of the results for the parameter “sex” but due to peer pressure having the strongest effect among girls), facilitating a better understanding of ingredients (especially if students are not familiar with Swedish cuisine or come from a household with a smaller diversity in what is typically eaten), increasing the involvement of parents in shaping sustainable eating habits and pedagogical work to raise students’ awareness of how their words can impact others and to strengthen them to stand up against peer pressures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-531566 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Gerstbrein, Theresa |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 2024/31 |
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