Food waste in schools is a pressing global issue with economic, environmental, and social implications, yet little research has explored the attitudinal factors influencing this behavior among elementary students in the Philippines. This study examined the attitudes and behaviors of Grade 4 to Grade 6 students at Isabel Central School to identify determinants of food waste and propose actionable strategies to reduce it. Employing a quantitative descriptive-correlational design, data were collected via a validated Likert-scale questionnaire measuring students’ taste preferences, food appearance, peer influence, food awareness, and meal satisfaction, alongside self-reported food waste behavior. Descriptive statistics summarized respondents’ demographic characteristics and attitudinal tendencies, while Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess relationships between attitudes and food waste behavior. Results indicated that students generally exhibited neutral attitudes toward most food-related factors, with food appearance scoring highest in positive perception. Food waste behavior was significantly influenced by taste preference, meal satisfaction, and food presentation, whereas peer influence had a moderate effect, and food awareness showed a negligible association. These findings underscore the critical role of sensory and experiential factors over purely cognitive awareness in shaping students’ food consumption decisions. The study highlights the need for student-centered, behaviorally informed interventions, such as improving meal palatability, incorporating appealing food presentation, and fostering positive peer modeling, to effectively reduce food waste in school feeding programs.
Rosalyn Estaca Lequin (Sun,) studied this question.