ArticleJournal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics2017
Validity and Interrater Reliability of the Visual Quarter-Waste Method for Assessing Food Waste in Middle School and High School Cafeteria Settings.
Article in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Salad Bars Increased Selection and Decreased Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables 1 Month After Installation in Title I Elementary Schools: A Plate Waste Study.Journal of nutrition education and behavior · 2018Trial
- The 'Schools Don't Waste' Program: A Theory-Informed Participatory Intervention to Reduce Plate Waste in Public School Canteens.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Validity of Weighed and Digital Photography Diet Estimation Study in a Childcare Setting.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Sneak peek: food, waste and packaging characteristics of South Australian school children's lunchboxes.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Reducing Plate Waste in Latvian Schools: Evaluating Interventions to Promote Sustainable Food Consumption Practices.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Implementing DASH-Aligned Meals and Self-Measured Blood Pressure to Reduce Hypertension at Senior Centers: A RE-AIM Analysis.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Food Waste in Schools: A Pre-/Post-test Study Design Examining the Impact of a Food Service Training Intervention to Reduce Food Waste.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Reliability and Validity of Digital Imagery Methodology for Measuring Starting Portions and Plate Waste from School Salad Bars.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2018Article
- Effects of a Behavioral Economics Intervention on Food Choice and Food Consumption in Middle-School and High-School Cafeterias.Preventing chronic disease · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMeasuring food waste (ie, plate waste) in school cafeterias is an important tool to evaluate the effectiveness of school nutrition policies and interventions aimed at increasing consumption of healthier meals. Visual assessment methods are frequently applied in plate waste studies because they are more convenient than weighing. The visual quarter-waste method has become a common tool in studies of school meal waste and consumption, but previous studies of its validity and reliability have used correlation coefficients, which measure association but not necessarily agreement.
objectiveThe aims of this study were to determine, using a statistic measuring interrater agreement, whether the visual quarter-waste method is valid and reliable for assessing food waste in a school cafeteria setting when compared with the gold standard of weighed plate waste.
methodsTo evaluate validity, researchers used the visual quarter-waste method and weighed food waste from 748 trays at four middle schools and five high schools in one school district in Washington State during May 2014. To assess interrater reliability, researcher pairs independently assessed 59 of the same trays using the visual quarter-waste method. Both validity and reliability were assessed using a weighted κ coefficient.
resultsFor validity, as compared with the measured weight, 45% of foods assessed using the visual quarter-waste method were in almost perfect agreement, 42% of foods were in substantial agreement, 10% were in moderate agreement, and 3% were in slight agreement. For interrater reliability between pairs of visual assessors, 46% of foods were in perfect agreement, 31% were in almost perfect agreement, 15% were in substantial agreement, and 8% were in moderate agreement.
conclusionsThese results suggest that the visual quarter-waste method is a valid and reliable tool for measuring plate waste in school cafeteria settings.
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