Abstract
The purposes of this study were to identify the attributes of food and service quality, to examine the levels of satisfaction and plate wastes leftover in school meals and to determine the relationship between student satisfaction and plate wastes. A questionnaire was administrated to 1000 elementary students. The respondents comprised of 505 boys and 494 girls. The satisfaction score with the food service quality was rated as 'average', with a score of 3.06 out of 5. The quality attributes of the food service were categorized into three aspects, which included food, service and hygiene. The satisfaction scores for the food- and hygiene-related factors were 3.20 and 3.24, respectively. However, the aspect of service was rated at 2.74, indicating a low level of satisfaction. The intake rates of soup, kimchi, fish and vegetables were lower than those of other types of foods. Two groups, a no-leftovers group and a leftovers group, were classified based on whether students ate all or left foods. The satisfaction scores for the school food service attributes between the two groups revealed that the no-leftovers group was more highly satisfied with the food service quality than the leftovers group (p<0.001).