Experiential cooking and nutrition education programs led by chef-instructors may be effective ways to improve nutrition in low-income communities.

No abstract

No abstract

Most Americans, including children, do not meet dietary guidelines for consumption of fruits and vegetables. Inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables can lead to dietary deficits in key vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which may increase risk for certain chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to determine whether participating in an experiential cooking and nutrition education intervention based on the Social‐Ecological Model could improve healthy dietary intake among youth. 1010 elementary and middle‐school children participated in after‐school nutrition and cooking interventions (Cooking Skills and World Cuisine and/or Family Cooking Class) taught by chef‐instructors. Children received 12–20 hours of instruction over the course of a semester. Weekly lessons consisted of an introduction to various world cuisines, fundamentals of nutrition, cooking skills, and hands‐on meal preparation in the school's kitchen. Children were surveyed during the first and last class of the intervention to determine whether they benefitted from the instruction. Survey items were combined into summated scales which were analyzed for internal validity and only accepted if Cronbach's alpha > 0.7. Items with binary responses which were not combined into scales were analyzed by logistic regression and results are presented as the odds ratio (OR) of a correct or improved response; items with polytomous responses were analyzed using both cumulative (proportional odds) and generalized (multinomial) logit models. Scales were analyzed by frequency distributions and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and results are presented as percentage of students with positive response before vs. after instruction. 68% of the students were girls, 37% were Hispanic, 33% were African‐American, 13% were Caucasian. At least 80% of children in participating schools qualified for free‐ or reduced‐price lunch. Participating in the interventions significantly increased correct responses to six nutrition knowledge questions (OR = 1.49–3.22) and frequency of child cooking at home (OR = 1.35) (all p < 0.05). Participating in the intervention increased the percentage of students with highest scores in vegetable liking from 38 to 49%, vegetable consumption from 7 to 13%, openness to other food cultures from 59 to 65%, and confidence in cooking skills from 67 to 88% (all p < 0.05). Hands‐on, experiential cooking and nutrition education may improve several parameters predictive of diet quality in elementary and middle‐school children.Support or Funding InformationSupported by the Walmart Foundation.

identify resources for this under served population were investigated. Evaluation: Teacher/Caregiver observations were used as the evaluation for this initiative. Improvements were seen in both physical activity and nutrition behaviors. Conclusions and Implications: This curriculum meets the needs of providing nutrition education to this vulnerable population. Continued outreach into this population will empower this under served population to make healthier choices and improve nutrition outcomes.