Table 3.
The current situation of food waste among college students (China, 2023, n = 407).
| Level of food waste per meal | Frequency of food waste per week | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Almost no waste n (%) | Waste a little (<10%) n (%) | Less waste (10–30%) n (%) | Comparatively large amount of waste (30–50%) n (%) | Large amount of waste (>50%) n (%) | 0–1 time per week n (%) | 2–3 times per week n (%) | 4–5 times per week n (%) | More than 5 times per week n (%) | ||
| 407 | 218 (53.6) | 142 (34.9) | 42 (10.3) | 4 (1.0) | 1 (0.2) | 267 (65.6) | 112 (27.5) | 16 (3.9) | 12 (3.0) | ||
| Region of the University | North China | 118 | 71 (60.2) | 40 (33.9) | 5 (4.2) | 1 (0.8) | 1 (0.8) | 87 (73.7) | 27 (22.9) | 1 (0.8) | 3 (2.5) |
| Northeast | 143 | 78 (54.5) | 55 (38.5) | 10 (7.0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 98 (68.5) | 36 (25.2) | 4 (2.8) | 5 (3.5) | |
| East China | 146 | 69 (47.3) | 47 (32.2) | 27 (18.5) | 3 (2.1) | 0 (0) | 82 (56.2) | 49 (33.6) | 11 (7.5) | 4 (2.7) | |
| χ 2 | 119.96 | 10.41 | |||||||||
| P | <0.001* | 0.005* | |||||||||
| Grade | First year | 213 | 124 (58.2) | 79 (37.1) | 10 (4.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 148 (69.5) | 58 (27.2) | 4 (1.9) | 3 (1.4) |
| Second year | 123 | 56 (45.5) | 44 (35.8) | 19 (15.4) | 3 (2.4) | 1 (0.8) | 79 (64.2) | 28 (22.8) | 8 (6.5) | 8 (6.5) | |
| Third year or more | 71 | 38 (53.5) | 19 (26.8) | 13 (18.3) | 1 (1.4) | 0 (0) | 40 (56.3) | 26 (36.6) | 4 (5.6) | 1 (1.4) | |
| χ 2 | 155.79 | 5.023 | |||||||||
| P | <0.001* | 0.081 | |||||||||
| Gender | Male | 142 | 102 (71.8) | 35 (24.6) | 5 (3.5) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 118 (83.1) | 20 (14.1) | 3 (2.1) | 1 (0.7) |
| Female | 265 | 116 (43.8) | 107 (40.4) | 37 (14.0) | 4 (1.5) | 1 (0.4) | 149 (56.2) | 92 (34.7) | 13 (4.9) | 11 (4.2) | |
| Z | −14.90 | −5.43 | |||||||||
| P | <0.001* | <0.001* | |||||||||
The results were shown as frequency. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Mann–Whitney U test. *p < 0.05 compared to the control group.