Determining knowledge, attitudes and practices on food waste management among Health Sciences students in Universiti Teknologi MARA

Abstract

This study aims to determine food waste management among students in Universiti Teknologi Mara. The information was collected by using a questionnaire comprising four sections: demographic information, knowledge, attitude and practice on food waste. The finding showed that the students have a high level of knowledge (3.935 ± 0.9699), attitude (5.100 ± 0.9798) and practice (2.672 ± 0.8897) towards food waste management. There was a positive significant correlation between knowledge with attitude (rs = 0.217, p = 0.02), and attitude with practice (rs = 0.241, p = 0.01). However, the correlation of knowledge with practice (rs = 0.073, p = 0.31) was not statistically correlated. There was a significant association between knowledge with gender (rs = 14.800, p = 0.011), and attitude with gender (rs = 15.449, p = 0.009) meanwhile there was no significant association between practice and gender (rs = 8.900, p = 0.064). Furthermore, there was no significant association between knowledge with income (rs = 15.025, p = 0.131), attitude with income (rs = 9.381, p = 0.496), and practice with income (rs, 9.054, p = 0.338). Hence, the results suggest that to change people's behaviour in waste management, the knowledge and awareness in waste management must be improved sustainably so that it will change a person's attitude and form it into positive action.