Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Behavioral approach to food consumption and waste production: A quasi‑experimental study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Zahra Yazdankhah
. Yadollah Mehrabi 1
. Sakineh Rakhshanderou
. Ali Safari‑Moradabadi 2
. Mohtasham Ghaffari

1 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Student Research Committee, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption
was wasted.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the effect of intervention on behavior of food
consumption and waste production in the restaurants of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this quasi‑experimental study, 233 students of public health school
were selected as intervention group, and 233 students of medical school were selected as control
group. The food wastage was weighed in both “Sabz” and “Medical” restaurants for a week. Based on
training needs of the samples, teaching methods and programs were implemented in the intervention
group for a month. The clients of both restaurants were followed 4 weeks after the intervention. The
food waste was weighed after 4 weeks. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and
statistical tests (Wilcoxon, Chi‑squared, McNemar, and Mann–Whitney tests).
RESULTS: The results obtained from Wilcoxon test showed that, the means of awareness, attitude,
and behavior were significantly improved after the intervention in the intervention and control
groups (P < 0.001). After the intervention, according to the number of served foods, it was expected
that the weight of food wastage to be 341.37 kg/week, but this figure was reduced to 224.98 kg/week
after the intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: This study has confirmed the effectiveness of implementation of interventions on
enhancement of knowledge, attitude, and behavior of people about consumption of food and amount
of wastage. The authors suggest that to investigate sustainability of effect of intervention on behavior
of food consumption and wastage production, this study could be implemented in different and longer
time intervals after the end of project.


Keywords

Behavior change
intervention
leftovers
waste management
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 10, Issue 12
December 2020
Pages 1-7

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