{
  "abstract": "Background/Objectives: Food waste contributes to environmental, social, economic, and nutritional losses. In this context, school canteens represent a key setting for shaping sustainable and healthy early dietary behaviors. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a combined digital meal-planning and educational intervention and to explore changes in plate waste, food-related responses, and perceived inclusivity and involvement. Methods: An uncontrolled pre-post pilot study in one preschool and one primary school in a single municipality was conducted. The intervention combined a digital lunch-planning tool, enabling menu and portion selection, with educational workshops on food and sustainability. Plate waste was weighed during two menu-matched weeks, one before and one after implementation. Parent and child questionnaires assessing dietary habits, emotional responses to food and food waste images, perceived inclusivity and involvement, and well-being were recorded. Results: Of 159 enrolled pupils, 155 registered on the platform and 152 used it at least once. Overall, 82.3% of meals were pre-planned through the platform. Questionnaires were completed at baseline by 93 participants and at follow-up by 60, with 48 participating at both time points. Exploratory analyses identified differences over time in some emotional-response ratings and higher parent-rated inclusivity and involvement at follow-up. Across the two observation weeks, measured plate waste decreased from 0.066 to 0.038 kg per meal attendance, an observed reduction of 42.1%. As portion sizes could be reduced or omitted, lower discarded quantities could be related to both increased food consumption and/or reduction in the amount of food prepared. Conclusions: High platform uptake supports the operational feasibility of implementing this combined programme in the participating schools. The observed differences are exploratory: the uncontrolled design, brief waste-measurement periods, and questionnaire attrition preclude causal attribution. Controlled studies with repeated measurements and longer follow-up are needed to evaluate effectiveness and transferability.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, 27100 Pavia, Italy",
    "PlanEat Società Benefit, 20059 Milan, Italy",
    "Cooperativa Rosa Dei Venti, 27049 Pavia, Italy",
    "Department of Science, Technology and Society, Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, 27100 Pavia, Italy",
    "Department of Political and Social Sciences, Università Degli Studi Di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy",
    "Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Pavia Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 27100 Pavia, Italy"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anna Vedani"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Maria Jose Habib"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Erica DellaBianca"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lucia Rogledi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nicola Lamberti"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Giacomo Fontana"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Carola Ricci"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Giulia Mattavelli",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2042-8947"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pghx2mzmmzt2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/nu18213700",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5pghx2mzmmzt2",
  "issns": [
    "2072-6643"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3700",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-07",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pghx2mzmmzt2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T00:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/nu18213700",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3700"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:2072-6643",
      "subfield": "nutrition"
    }
  ],
  "title": "An Intervention to Promote Sustainable and Inclusive Eating Behaviors in Primary and Preschools in Italy: A Pilot Study of the SoS-4-SoUPS Project",
  "title_text": "An Intervention to Promote Sustainable and Inclusive Eating Behaviors in Primary and Preschools in Italy: A Pilot Study of the SoS-4-SoUPS Project",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T00:21:40Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5pghx2mzmmzt2",
  "venue": "Nutrients",
  "versions": []
}