Perceptions of Tobacco Price Policy among Students from Sapienza University of Rome: Can This Policy Mitigate Smoking Addiction and Its Health Impacts?

Tobacco use is one of the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Avoiding youth initiation and treating addiction are fundamental public health issues to ensure better health. Among tobacco control policies, increasing tobacco price is the single most effective intervention. It reduces tobacco consumption, especially among youths, while representing a government financing source. This study aimed to assess the agreement with the proposal of a one-euro increase in tobacco price earmarked to health issues among students at Sapienza University. Two convenience samples were surveyed, five years apart, on World No Tobacco Days. Smoking habits, agreement with the proposal and reasons for it were collected. Results from the 208 questionnaires (107 in 2014, 101 in 2019) showed 46.6% of agreement with the proposal (53.3% in 2014, 39.2% in 2019, p = 0.044). Main predictive factor for agreement was being a non-smoker (OR = 6.33 p < 0.001), main reason (64.8%) was it could trigger smokers to quit or reduce consumption. Several factors might have influenced this finding, including the introduction of novel tobacco products and their increased advertisement on social media. In 2024, European Union is planning to update the Tobacco Taxation Directive which could greatly contribute to the reduction of non-communicable diseases and premature deaths.

Evaluation Model of Plate Waste to Monitor Food Consumption in Two Different Catering Settings.

An increasing number of people regularly eats lunch away from home, using catering services. In this context, therefore, it is extremely important to improve the meals' quality, remaining faithful to the principles of hygiene, nutritional and organoleptic quality and proper food handling. At the same time, it is necessary to promote food choices, nutritionally correct, by evaluations of appropriateness of menus. The study of food waste allows an evaluation of the nutritional habits of consumers and an important economic consideration of the costs incurred for the implementation of the service. This becomes even more important in some particularly sensitive groups, such as children and elderly. The purpose of this work is to test a model of semi-quantitative evaluation of waste to monitor food consumption in two different catering contexts (educational and business), in order to improve the service for school students and other consumers.