Unpacking the Decline in Food Waste Measured in Chinese Households from 1991 to 2009.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Qi D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7357877 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Currently, food waste is estimated at more than one-third of all food produced, and the primary responsibility for this phenomenon is attributed to households. Therefore, it seems reasonable to take action to limit food waste and to raise awareness about this link in the chain. To develop and implement educational programs addressed at consumers it is necessary to understand the factors determining food waste in households. Segmentation is a tool that can help effectively reach consumers who are to the greatest extent wasting food which identifies homogeneous clusters of consumers. The aim of this study was to perform segmentation to identify consumer groups with similar behaviors in relation to food, with particular emphasis on food wastage. We carried out segmentation on a representative sample of Polish people over 18 years of age and to identified three clusters of consumers. The three consumer segments diagnosed differed in sociodemographic terms, i.e., number of adults, number of children, subjective assessment of the financial situation, and percentage of spending on food. The segment exhibiting a high frequency of discarding food due to too large package size included single and double households.
| S-EPMC7230927 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Production and consumption of industrially processed food and drink products have risen in parallel with the global increase in overweight and obesity and related chronic non-communicable diseases. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between household availability of processed and ultra-processed products and the prevalence of excess weight (overweight plus obesity) and obesity in Brazil. METHODS: The study was based on data from the 2008-2009 Household Budget Survey involving a probabilistic sample of 55,970 Brazilian households. The units of study were household aggregates (strata), geographically and socioeconomically homogeneous. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between the availability of processed and ultra-processed products and the average of Body Mass Index (BMI) and the percentage of individuals with excess weight and obesity in the strata, controlling for potential confounders (socio-demographic characteristics, percentage of expenditure on eating out of home, and dietary energy other than that provided by processed and ultra-processed products). Predictive values for prevalence of excess weight and obesity were estimated according to quartiles of the household availability of dietary energy from processed and ultra-processed products. RESULTS: The mean contribution of processed and ultra-processed products to total dietary energy availability ranged from 15.4% (lower quartile) to 39.4% (upper quartile). Adjusted linear regression coefficients indicated that household availability of ultra-processed products was positively associated with both the average BMI and the prevalence of excess weight and obesity, whereas processed products were not associated with these outcomes. In addition, people in the upper quartile of household consumption of ultra-processed products, compared with those in the lower quartile, were 37% more likely to be obese. CONCLUSION: Greater household availability of ultra-processed food products in Brazil is positively and independently associated with higher prevalence of excess weight and obesity in all age groups in this cross-sectional study.
| S-EPMC3965451 | biostudies-other
Project description:In the present study, we aimed to identify the changes or stability in the structure of dietary patterns and tracking, trends and factors related to the adherence to these dietary patterns in China from 1991 to 2009. We analysed dietary data collected during seven waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey and included 9253 adults with complete dietary data for three or more waves. Dietary intake assessment was carried out over a 3 d period with 24 h recalls and a household food inventory. Using factor analysis in each wave, we found that the structure of the two dietary patterns identified remained stable over the studied period. The traditional southern dietary pattern was characterised by high intakes of rice, fresh leafy vegetables, low-fat red meat, pork, organ meats, poultry and fish/seafood and low intakes of wheat flour and maize/coarse grains and the modern high-wheat dietary pattern was characterised by high intakes of wheat buns/breads, cakes/cookies/pastries, deep-fried wheat, nuts/seeds, starchy root/tuber products, fruits, eggs/egg products, soya milk, animal-based milk and instant noodles/frozen dumplings. Temporal tracking (maintenance of a relative position over time) was higher for the traditional southern dietary pattern, whereas adherence to the modern high-wheat dietary pattern had an upward trend over time. Higher income, education and urbanicity levels were positively associated with both the dietary patterns, but the association became weaker in the later years. These results suggest that even in the context of rapid economic changes in China, the way people chose to combine their foods remained relatively stable. However, the increasing popularity of the modern high-wheat dietary pattern, a pattern associated with several energy-dense foods, is a cause of concern.
| S-EPMC3966951 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Household Food Waste Questionnaire (van Herpen et al. 2019a) was developed and validated as an effective instrument to identify statistically significant differences between households and to distinguish trends in household food waste over time. The original instrument was validated using consumers sampled from several European countries. We conduct a pilot study with U.S. consumers using the revised questionnaire. We find that a sample of 150 online panelists provided sufficient statistical power to replicate standard findings from the literature that smaller households and older respondents generate less food waste, but not enough statistical power to identify a statistically significant week-to-week reduction in reported food waste among households who received a food waste message rather than a control message. Power analysis conducted via bootstrapping with the pilot data suggests a usable sample size of 180 per group is required. In our study, we adapted the questionnaire for use with consumers in the United States by:•Adjusting food category descriptions and converting food quantity benchmarks to units and amounts more familiar to U.S. consumers.•Refining several elements to the questionnaire, including the addition of a visual guide to help respondents better estimate food quantities.•Expanding the approach by adding a second follow up questionnaire that permits assessment of within household changes over consecutive weeks.
| S-EPMC8374451 | biostudies-literature
Project description:(1) Background: Food waste (FW) in Romania is 70 Kg/capita/year, while 70% of food waste comes from public catering, retail services, and households (over 50%-47 million tons). The present study investigates the socio-demographic factors, behaviors, motivations, and attitudes related to food waste management in Romanian households. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using an online questionnaire via the Google Forms platform from 15 April 2023 to 15 May 2023. The questionnaire was designed to assess various aspects, such as some socio-demographic information (age, sex, occupation, area of residence, study level, household members number, children <18 years of age); the personal involvement and frequency of food purchases and homemade food cooking; the main sources that generate food waste; the motivation and frequency with which food waste occurs; the level of awareness regarding the impact of food waste; the respondents' intentions regarding sustainable behaviors and practices for food management; the level of information and familiarity of the respondents with the notions of validity and how these may influence their food consumption decisions. (3) Results: The results show that FW incidence is occasionally (42%), very rarely (43.33%), frequently (15%), and no food waste was reported by 2.66% of respondents. The 35-44 age category records the highest FW frequency, followed by 18-24. The most wasted are homemade food (29.67%), bread and bakery products (27.00%), and fruits and vegetables (14.33%). High involvement in purchasing and buying food following a previously established list reduces FW frequency. The same is valid for high daily involvement in food and homemade cooking. High interest in the FW problem and its perception as a waste of money leads to diminishing it, while guilty feelings increase the FW level (37.50% to 73.33%). (4) Conclusions: The present study shows that household food waste management is a multifactorial process that involves numerous socio-demographic, behavioral, and emotional aspects. Extensive data analysis supports our results, revealing deep self-reported information details and confirming its complex approach.
| S-EPMC11356938 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is little consensus on the amount of worldwide food waste generation because many current estimates are indirect and link back to the same limited primary datasets, with much of the data originating from fieldwork undertaken in the 1970s and 1980s. Direct measurement of waste streams, through waste composition studies, can be used to develop accurate estimates of food waste disposal. In Ontario, Canada, municipalities that undertake household waste composition studies all use a common direct measurement methodology that includes a broad range of waste categories, including food waste. The purpose of this research was to estimate the quantity of food waste disposed, in the garbage stream, by households in southern Ontario, Canada, and determine if this common methodology could be expanded and serve as the basis of a standardized and rigorous household food waste measurement methodology. Household waste composition study data (2012-2015), including a single "food waste" category, were gathered from 9 Ontario municipalities, aggregated and analyzed to develop estimates of food waste in the garbage stream. On average, households disposed 2.40 kg/week of food waste in the garbage, which comprised 35.4% of this waste stream. This does not include any food waste otherwise disposed (e.g., sink) or recycled (e.g., composted). Urban households disposed significantly greater amounts of food waste compared to rural households in the spring (p = 0.01) and summer (p = 0.02). Households with access to a green bin program disposed significantly less food waste than those with no access to a green bin program in the spring (p = 0.03) and summer (p<0.01). The common methodology used to develop these estimates shows promise as the basis of a household food waste measurement methodology. This future methodology would include dividing food waste into avoidable and unavoidable food waste categories, as well as adding subcategories (e.g., avoidable fruits and vegetables).
| S-EPMC5999097 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Living with an unmarried mother is consistently associated with adjustment issues in adolescence, but these associations can vary by both time and place. Following life course theory, this study applied inverse probability of treatment weighting techniques to data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) Children and Young Adults study (n = 5,597) to estimate various treatment effects of family structures through childhood and early adolescence on internalizing and externalizing dimensions of adjustment at age 14. Young people who lived with an unmarried (single or cohabiting) mother during early childhood and adolescence were more likely to drink and reported more depressive symptoms by age 14 than those with a married mother, with particularly strong associations between living with an unmarried mother during early adolescence and drinking. These associations, however, varied according to sociodemographic selection into family structures. They were strongest for youth who more closely resembled the average adolescent living with a married mother.
| S-EPMC9936081 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Promoting pro-environmental behaviour amongst urban dwellers is one of today's greatest sustainability challenges. The aim of this study is to test whether an information intervention, designed based on theories from environmental psychology and behavioural economics, can be effective in promoting recycling of food waste in an urban area. To this end we developed and evaluated an information leaflet, mainly guided by insights from nudging and community-based social marketing. The effect of the intervention was estimated through a natural field experiment in Hökarängen, a suburb of Stockholm city, Sweden, and was evaluated using a difference-in-difference analysis. The results indicate a statistically significant increase in food waste recycled compared to a control group in the research area. The data analysed was on the weight of food waste collected from sorting stations in the research area, and the collection period stretched for almost 2 years, allowing us to study the short- and long term effects of the intervention. Although the immediate positive effect of the leaflet seems to have attenuated over time, results show that there was a significant difference between the control and the treatment group, even 8 months after the leaflet was distributed. Insights from this study can be used to guide development of similar pro-environmental behaviour interventions for other urban areas in Sweden and abroad, improving chances of reaching environmental policy goals.
| S-EPMC5875413 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic brought profound changes to all corners of society and affected people in every aspect of their lives. This survey-based study investigated how household food related matters such as food sourcing and consumption behaviors of 2,126 Chinese consumers in different age groups changed approximately two months into the COVID-19 quarantine. A new food sourcing mechanism, community-based online group grocery-ordering (CoGGO), was widely adopted by households, particularly among the youngest group studied (18-24 years of age). The same group showed a higher confidence in the food supply system during the quarantine and a greater propensity for weight gain while staying-at-home. The more mature age group (≥35 years of age) showed heightened vigilance and awareness, with fewer grocery-shopping trips, a higher tendency for purchasing extra food, and less tendency to waste food. Survey findings of the new food-sourcing mechanism, attitudes to food, and changes in behavior among different age groups provide valuable insights to guide policies and management interventions to address matters pertaining to food supply and distribution, food access and household food security, and food waste reduction.
| S-EPMC8682873 | biostudies-literature