Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate waste at a Portuguese university setting in order to suggest improvements on foodservice sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: – The work was developed during four weeks in order to allow the evaluation of parameters of an entire menu cycle. The index of waste/consumption (%) was obtained by the ratio between plate waste and the quantity of foods distributed, subtracting the weight of leftovers. Findings: – The average index of waste/consumption was approximately 24 percent, higher in the days with a fish menu, values considered unacceptable. Each canteen user is served with approximately 940 g of foods, from which only 660 g were effectively consumed, corresponding to 80 g of leftovers and 200 g of waste. Originality/value: – It seems possible and desirable to reduce food waste in order to optimize food unit profitability and sustainability. Reducing food waste will contribute to improve foodservice quality as well as consumer's satisfaction. Potential strategies to achieve this goal may include previous booking of meals, to adopt tray less during lunch and additionally analyze the eating patterns for a particular forecasted meal, and then prepare and serve food based on the appropriate forecast.

Objective: To determine and compare the effect of two interventions in reducing the plate waste of school lunches.Design: A between-group analysis was conducted among children from three primary schools: (i) a group receiving intervention A, designed for children and focusing on nutrition education and food waste; (ii) a group receiving intervention B, intended for teachers and focusing on the causes and consequences of food waste; and (iii) a control group with no intervention. For each child, physical weighing of individual meals and leftovers was performed on three non-consecutive weeks at baseline (T0), 1 week (T1, short term) and 3 months (T2, medium term) following the intervention. Plate waste was recorded for a total of 1742 lunches during 14 d over eight different menus.Setting: Portuguese public primary schools in the city of Porto.Subjects: All fourth-grade children (n212) attending the three preselected schools.Results: After intervention A focusing on nutrition education designed for children, a decrease in soup waste was observed compared with the control group. The effect was greater at T1 (−11·9 (se2·8) %;P<0·001) than at T2 (−5·8 (se4·4) %;P=0·103). The plate waste of identical main dishes decreased strongly at T1 (−33·9 (se4·8) %;P<0·001). However, this effect was not found at T2 (−13·7 (se3·2) %;P<0·001). After intervention B involving teachers, plate waste decreased at T2 (−5·5 (se1·9) % for soup; −5·4 (se2·4) % for identical main dishes).Conclusions: Nutrition education designed for children was more effective in the short than the medium term. Thus, this kind of intervention was not effective in reducing food waste in the medium term. In contrast, an intervention focusing on teachers revealed better results in the medium term than in the short term.

Background/Objectives: The literature on consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) using the NOVA classification is still limited. Therefore, the aim of the present study was twofold: (i) to compare the UPF consumption, sedentary behaviors, and well-being perception between boys and girls; and (ii) to investigate the association between the UPF consumption and risk of overweight, sedentary behaviors, and well-being in adolescents. Methods: The present cross-sectional study comprised a sample of 245 adolescents (131 boys) aged 12–17 years-old (M = 14.20; SD = 1.09). Height and weight were assessed, and subsequently, the BMI was computed; furthermore, total body fat percentage was measured with bioelectrical impedance. Daily consumption of UPF was assessed by the NOVA screener and time spent sedentary was assessed by the Midlands Behavior Health 2024 questionnaire. The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) was used to measure adolescents’ psychosocial well-being. Pearson’s correlations and logistic regression analysis were used, controlling for biological, behavioral, and socio-economic confounders. Results: No sex differences were observed for the different UPF NOVA subscales. Boys reported higher computer use levels than girls on the weekend (p = 0.025), and they spent more time playing electronic games during the week (p = 0.005) and on the weekend than their female counterparts (p < 0.001). Moreover, boys reported higher scores in all well-being dimensions (p < 0.001) than girls. Conclusions: The findings revealed, after controlling for sex, sedentary time, and active behaviors, adolescents who consumed UPF on the previous day tended to be associated with a higher risk of being overweight, but also marginally without statistical significance (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83–1.01, p = 0.06). Of relevance, the present study revealed that both boys and girls of mothers with high educational levels were less likely to be classified as overweight or obese youth.