P172 Gratitude for Food May Help to Decrease Food Dislikes in Children

Background In Japan, all students participate in school lunch. The menu changes daily but schools provide the same meal to all children. School dietitians teach students to eat mindfully and with a feeling of gratitude for the food and the people involved in food production. Teaching children food gratitude may encourage them to eat without concentrating on individual likes and dislikes and may promote greater enjoyment of eating and decreased food waste. Objective To measure associations between having a disliked school lunch menu, food gratitude, mindful eating attitudes, enjoyment of school lunchtime, and school lunch waste. Study Design, Settings, Participants Six hundred and sixty two elementary school children in Tokyo, Japan completed surveys for this cross-sectional study. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Students responded to the following statements using a five-point Likert-type scale: 1) I am thankful for the food that gave us its life, 2) I am thankful for the people who grew the food or cooked school lunch, 3) I care about the food's taste, texture, and smell, 4) I care about the seasonality of the food I eat for school lunch, 5) I enjoy school lunchtime, 6) I don't leave school lunch leftovers. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests and odds ratios, adjusting for grade level and sex. Results More than half of the children did not have a disliked school lunch menu (n = 411, 62.5%). Students who had no disliked school lunch menu were significantly more likely to agree with each of the statements above ( P P = .008) and less likely to leave school lunch leftovers ( P Conclusion This research suggests opportunities for nutrition education that teaches food gratitude as a potential strategy to decrease food dislikes among children, promote greater enjoyment of eating, and reduce food waste. Funding None.