An ethnographic study exploring factors that minimize lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools.

OBJECTIVE: To explore factors that minimize lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools and to consider how such factors can be modified and applied in US schools. DESIGN: Focused ethnographic study using interviews, observation, participant observation and document review. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. SETTING: Tokyo, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Five school dietitians participated in the study. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, observation of nutrition education lessons, participant observation of school lunchtime and review of relevant school documents (e.g. lunch menus, food waste records). RESULTS: Five themes emerged from the analysis: (i) reinforcement of social norms to eat without waste; (ii) menu planning to increase exposure to unfamiliar and/or disliked foods; (iii) integration of food and nutrition education into the school curriculum; (iv) teacher lunchtime practices related to portion sizes, distributing leftover food and time management; and (v) engagement of students in reducing school lunch waste. Practical and tangible applications to US schools include measuring and reporting lunch waste to influence social norms, teaching students about the importance of reducing food waste, offering flexible school lunch portion sizes and providing students with meaningful opportunities to contribute to solving the problem of school lunch waste. CONCLUSIONS: Japan offers a model for minimizing school lunch waste through a holistic approach that includes factors that operate at and interact across multiple levels of society. Modifying and applying such an approach in US schools is worth considering given the urgent need to address food waste in order to support healthy diets and sustainable food systems.

Everyone deserves quiche: French school lunch programmes and national culture in a globalized world.

Globalization poses many challenges for national cultural unity, especially in Europe. Some doubt whether national cultures will be able to survive, but there are many counter-trends pushing to maintain national cultural unity. I analyse the dual trends of global diversity and maintaining unity through an everyday manifestation of French culture: elementary school lunches. French school lunch programmes are part of the nation-building process because they are designed to teach students how to eat, which is especially important in France where the art of gastronomy is a key source of identity and pride. I analyse cultural influences on over 11,000 school lunch menu items from eight municipalities across two French regions. I also conduct in-depth face-to-face interviews with the people who design and approve school lunch menus. My inquiry is guided by three key questions. First, to what extent are foreign influences included? Second, does openness to foreign influences vary across different parts of France? Finally, how are foreign cultures represented? My results suggest that foreign cultures are deployed to nationalize difference. The limited foreign influences that appear in school lunches are strategically chosen to appeal to and to educate students, but in a way that reinforces the centrality of traditional French cultural norms. This article contributes to our understanding of the tension between national culture and a globalizing world.

Child feeding style is associated with food intake and linear growth in rural Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about mother-child feeding interactions and how this is associated with food intake and linear growth. OBJECTIVE: To characterize mother-child feeding styles and investigate their associations with accepted mouthful and linear growth in west Gojam, rural Ethiopia. SUBJECTS/DESIGN: Two, in-home, meal observations of children aged 12-23 months (n = 100) were video-taped. The number of mouthful accepted was counted and the caregiver/child feeding styles were coded into positive/negative categories of self-feeding, responsive-feeding, active-feeding, social-behavior and distraction. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, child feeding practices, perception about child's overall appetite, and strategies adopted to overcome food refusal were collected through questionnaire-based interviews. Child and mothers' anthropometric measurements were also taken. RESULTS: Stunting was highly prevalent (48%) and the number of mouthful accepted was very low. Offering breastmilk and threatening to harm were the main strategies adopted to overcome food refusal. Although all forms of feeding style were present, active positive feeding style was dominant (90%) and was positively associated with mouthful accepted. Talking with non-feeding partner (64%), and domestic animals (24%) surrounding the feeding place were common distractions of feeding. Feeding was mostly terminated by caregivers (75%), often prematurely. Overall, caregivers of stunted children had poorer complementary- and breast-feeding practices and were less responsive to child's hunger and satiation cues (P < 0.05). Positive responsive feeding behaviors were associated with child's number of mouthful accepted (r = 0.27; P = 0.007) and stunting (r = 0.4; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Low complementary food intake in this setting is associated with caregivers' feeding style and stunting. Nutrition interventions that reinforce messages of optimal infant and young child feeding and integrate the promotion of responsive feeding behaviors are needed.

Preschool children's sensitivity to teacher-served portion size is linked to age related differences in leftovers.

A strong predictor of children's food intake at a meal is the amount they are served, and with a high percentage children attending preschool, there is a need to consider the relationship between portion size and intake in this context. In a two-part repeated measures study we investigated whether the portions teachers serve to children i) differ from those children would serve themselves and ii) impact food intake at a local preschool in Singapore. Part 1 (n = 37, 20 boys, 3.0-6.8 years) compared the quantity of food served, consumed and leftover across three serving methods: 'regular' teacher-serving; child self-served portions; and a deliberately large portion served by the teacher (150% of each child's average previous gram intake). Part 2 (n = 44, 23 boys, 2.4-6.2 years old) consisted of three additional observations of school-based servings outside of the experimental manipulation and enhance external validity of the study findings. Results indicated that serving size and intake was similar when the children and teachers served their 'regular' portions, but children consumed most overall when the teacher served the larger 150% portion. This was dependent on the child's age, with the oldest children being most responsive to the large portions while the youngest children tended to serve and consume a similar weight of food, regardless of the serving method. Though the younger children were generally served less than the older children, they consistently had more leftovers across all of the study observations. These data suggest that younger preschool children moderated food intake by leaving food in their bowl, and emphasise the unique influence of caregivers over children's eating behaviours outside of the home environment.

Reproducibility of an in-laboratory test meal to assess ad libitum energy intake in adolescents with obesity.

AIM: The aim of the present work was to test the reproducibility of a personalized in-laboratory ad libitum buffet meal in assessing energy and macronutrient intake in obese adolescents. METHODS: Twelve 13.5 ± 1.5 years old obese adolescent girls were asked to complete three identical experimental sessions during which an ad libitum buffet meal was presented at lunch time. The buffet was personalized based on food preference questionnaires, presented usually consumed food items and excluded preferred foods. Total energy intake and the energy ingested derived from each macronutrient were assessed by investigators using the Bilnuts nutritional software. RESULTS: Mean body mass was 87.0 ± 13.7 kg and mean BMI was 32.2 ± 4.9 kg/m(2). Mean FM percentage was 39.1 ± 4.4% and FFM was 50.6 ± 7.7 kg. There was no significant difference between total energy intake, the percentage of intake related to fat, protein or Carbohydrates (CHO) between the three sessions. The Intraclass Correlations (ICC) observed for total energy intake was 0.99. ICC for Protein, Fat and CHO were 0.38; 0.96 and 0.81 respectively. The Bland & Altman visual analysis revealed an important agreement between meals. CONCLUSION: The proposed personalized in-laboratory ad libitum test meal produces is a reproducible methods to assess energy and macronutrients intake in obese adolescent girls.

Determinants of meal satisfaction in a workplace environment.

Workplace lunches are recurrent meal occasions that can contribute to the general well-being of employees. The objective of our research was to study which factors influence consumers' satisfaction with these meals by exploring the relative role of food-related, personal, situational factors. Using a longitudinal approach, we monitored a total of 71 participants compiled and experienced 519 meals from their workplace canteen buffet during a three-month period; in addition the composed lunches were photographed. Before and after the lunch choice period respondents filled in a questionnaire on several meal-related variables. A mixed modelling approach was used to analyse the data. Meal satisfaction was directly associated with a positive ambience and a positive evaluation of both the quality of the food eaten and the buffet assortment, whereas the meal's energy content did not contribute to meal satisfaction. Additionally, meal satisfaction was associated with a more positive mood, lower hunger level as well as feeling less busy and stressed after lunch. The buffet assortment, a more positive mood before lunch and mindful eating contributed to the perceived food quality, but not associated with the hunger level before lunch. Time available, mindful eating and eating with close colleagues were positively associated with perceived ambience. The results indicate that consumers' satisfaction with workplace meals can be increased by putting emphasis on the quality of food served, but equally important is the ambience in the lunch situation. Most of the ambience factors were related to available time and mental resources of the participants and the possibility to share the meal with close colleagues. These are factors that can be facilitated by the service provider, but not directly influenced.

Variation in the Oral Processing of Everyday Meals Is Associated with Fullness and Meal Size; A Potential Nudge to Reduce Energy Intake?

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that experimental manipulations of oral processing can have a marked effect on energy intake. Here, we explored whether variations in oral processing across a range of unmodified everyday meals could affect post-meal fullness and meal size. In Study 1, female participants (N = 12) attended the laboratory over 20 lunchtime sessions to consume a 400-kcal portion of a different commercially available pre-packaged meal. Prior to consumption, expected satiation was assessed. During each meal, oral processing was characterised using: (i) video-recordings of the mouth and (ii) real-time measures of plate weight. Hunger and fullness ratings were elicited pre- and post-consumption, and for a further three hours. Foods that were eaten slowly had higher expected satiation and delivered more satiation and satiety. Building on these findings, in Study 2 we selected two meals (identical energy density) from Study 1 that were equally liked but maximised differences in oral processing. On separate days, male and female participants (N = 24) consumed a 400-kcal portion of either the "fast" or "slow" meal followed by an ad libitum meal (either the same food or a dessert). When continuing with the same food, participants consumed less of the slow meal. Further, differences in food intake during the ad libitum meal were not compensated at a subsequent snacking opportunity an hour later. Together, these findings suggest that variations in oral processing across a range of unmodified everyday meals can affect fullness after consuming a fixed portion and can also impact meal size. Modifying food form to encourage increased oral processing (albeit to a lesser extent than in experimental manipulations) might represent a viable target for food manufacturers to help to nudge consumers to manage their weight.