Title:
Food Skills: Associations With Diet Quality and Food Waste Among Canadian Parents
Authors:
Nicholas Carroll, BASc; Adam Sadowski, MMath; Kate Parizeau, PhD; Michael von Massow, PhD; Angela Wallace, MSc, RD; Kira Jewell, MSc; David W.L. Ma, PhD; Andrea C. Buchholz, PhD, RD; Alison M. Duncan, PhD, RD; Brianne Chan, MSc & Jess Haines, PhD, RD
Published:
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 29 January 2021
Abstract:
Objective
To examine the association between self-reported food skills and diet quality along with measured food waste among a sample of Canadian parents.
Design
Cross-sectional data from surveys to assess food skills, 3-day food records to assess the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, and food waste measured by household waste audits.
Setting
Guelph-Wellington, Ontario.
Participants
Parents (n = 130) with children aged 2–8 years.
Main Outcome Measures
HEI-2015 scores, daily per capita avoidable and unavoidable food waste (grams).
Analysis
Linear regression using generalized estimating equations to determine unstandardized β estimates of associations between food skills and dependent variables. Models were adjusted for multiple testing, gender, and level of education.
Results
Food safety knowledge for cooking hot foods (β = 4.3, P = 0.05), planning (β = 4.5, P = 0.001), and conceptualizing food (β = 4.0, P = 0.03) were positively associated with HEI-2015 scores. Knowledge related to best before dates (β = 25.3, P = 0.05; β = 12.1, P = 0.04), conceptualizing food (β = 34.1, P = 0.01; β = 13.8, P = 0.02), and mechanical techniques (β = 39.2, P = 0.01; β = 20.5, P = 0.004) were associated with more avoidable and unavoidable food waste, respectively.
Conclusions and Implications
Addressing higher-level food skills with a focus on efficient food preparation practices that make use of all edible portions of foods could play an important role in minimizing food waste and improving diet quality. Additional research in other countries and in a larger, more socioeconomically diverse sample is needed to confirm these findings.