A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS THE AMOUNT AND RE-UTILISATION OF LEFTOVER FOOD IN TIFFIN BOXES SUPPLIED BY TIFFIN PROVIDERS TO COLLEGE STUDENTS

BACKGROUND India wastes about 13,300 crores worth of food per year and the major contribution is at the level of consumption. When it comes to wasting food items, India is ahead of China, says a UN report on food waste and its impact on natural resources. Leftover food is the food that is discarded or left uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption. Aims and objectives1. To assess the various reasons for leaving food in tiffin boxes. 2. To determine the awareness among students regarding malnutrition caused by wastage of food. 3. To study the status of re-utilisation of leftover food among college students. MATERIALS AND METHODS It is a cross-sectional study done in a period of 3 months in MGM Medical College, Indore. 180 Students of MGM Medical College were selected as study subjects who were utilising tiffin services for the past 6 months by simple random sampling. A pre-tested semistructured questionnaire was used to collect information. Verbal informed consent was taken from every student before filling the questionnaires. RESULTS Out of 180 students studied, 45% of the females waste food, 22% say they are putting a great deal of effort to reduce food wastage. 65% of them leave food in their tiffin regularly and 35% of them are able to finish all the food provided. 14% of 180 students waste food because the amount given is too much, 5% waste food because their appetite is less, 1% waste food because it is cold, 38% waste because the food is not tasty and 7% waste food because of lack of variety. Majority of them did not reutilise the wasted food. CONCLUSION Based on our observational study, we have found that majority of the people wasting food were females. Taste of food and excess quantity were the reasons for wastage. A significant number of students were guilty of wasting food and majority of students were willing to adopt various measures to reduce food wastage and also, they were willing to educate others to reduce food wastage and help in combating malnutrition.