Acceptance of an adapted, more sustainable school lunch menu among primary school children : liking, plate waste and non-selection under routine canteen conditions : project research data

Bolha, Anja (author)

Concerns about palatability and children's acceptance are among the main barriers to implementing more sustainable school meals. This study examined children's hedonic and behavioural responses to an adapted, more sustainable school lunch menu, distinguishing non-selection from plate waste. In a repeated-measures study, 176 children aged 9–12 years from four Slovenian primary schools evaluated ten regular (Menu 1) and ten adapted, more sustainable lunches (Menu 2). Acceptance was assessed through hedonic scores, plate waste and non-selection, and analysed using linear and linear mixed-effects models. The published dataset includes children's hedonic scores, child characteristics (sex, age, food neophobia, food literacy, and home consumption frequency of legumes and meat), lunch composition, and plate waste and non-selection at the level of whole lunches and of individual lunch components, together with the questionnaires used for data collection.

• Language: English
• Keywords: liking, plate waste, non-selection, food neophobia, school lunches, sustainable nutrition
• Work type: Research data
• Typology: 2.20 - Research data
• Geographic coverage: Slovenija (4 osnovne šole) / Slovenia (4 primary schools)
• Temporal coverage: 2025 (šolsko leto 2024/2025) / 2025 (2024/2025 school year)
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Year: 2026
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-189722
• Data col. methods: Self-completed questionnaire: Paper/pencil; Experiment: Field/Intervention
• Publication date in RUL: 14.10.2026

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Sprejemljivost prilagojenega, bolj trajnostnega jedilnika šolskih kosil med osnovnošolskimi otroki: všečnost, zavržki na krožniku in neizbrana hrana v običajnih pogojih šolske jedilnice : raziskovalni podatki projekta

Abstract

Pomisleki glede okusa in sprejemljivosti med otroki so med glavnimi ovirami za uvajanje bolj trajnostnih šolskih obrokov. V raziskavi smo preučevali hedonski in vedenjski odziv otrok na prilagojen, bolj trajnostni jedilnik šolskih kosil, pri čemer smo ločeno spremljali neizbrano hrano in zavržke na krožniku. V raziskavi s ponovljenimi meritvami je 176 otrok, starih 9–12 let, s štirih slovenskih osnovnih šol ocenilo deset običajnih (Jedilnik 1) in deset prilagojenih, bolj trajnostnih kosil (Jedilnik 2). Sprejemljivost smo ocenjevali s hedonskimi ocenami, zavržki na krožniku in neizbrano hrano, podatke pa analizirali z linearnimi in linearnimi mešanimi modeli. Objavljeni podatkovni sklop vsebuje hedonske ocene otrok, značilnosti otrok (spol, starost, strah pred novo hrano, prehranska pismenost in pogostost uživanja stročnic in mesa doma), sestavo kosil ter zavržke in neizbrano hrano na ravni kosila in posameznih sestavnih delov kosila, skupaj z vprašalniki, uporabljenimi za zbiranje podatkov.

• Keywords: všečnost, zavržki na krožniku, neizbrana hrana, prehranska neofobija, šolska kosila, trajnostna prehrana

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: V4-2307
• Name: Zdrava in trajnostna prehrana v vzgojno-izobraževalnih ustanovah
• Acronym: Šolski krožnik

• Funder: MZ - Ministrstvo za zdravje
• Funding programme: CRP
• Project number: V4-2307
• Name: Zdrava in trajnostna prehrana v vzgojno-izobraževalnih ustanovah
• Acronym: Šolski krožnik