Community-based cooking programme ‘Eat Better Feel Better’ can improve child and family eating behaviours in low socioeconomic groups

Abstract

BackgroundThe immediate and sustained impacts of the Eat Better Feel Better cooking programme (EBFBCP) on food choices and eating behaviours in families and children were evaluated.MethodsThe EBFBCP (6 weeks, 2 hours/week) was delivered by community-based organisations in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland. Before, after and at follow-up, parents/caregivers completed short pictorial questionnaires to report family/child eating behaviours and food literacy.ResultsIn total, 83 EBFBCPs were delivered and 516 participants enrolled, of which 432 were parents and caregivers. Questionnaire completion rates were 57% (n=250) for before and after and 13% (n=58) for follow-up. Most participants (80%) were female, 25–44 years old (51%) and considered socioeconomically deprived (80%). The immediate effects of the EBFBCP on eating behaviours and food literacy were families ate less takeaway/fast foods (10% reduction, p=0.019) and ready meals (15% reduction, p=0.003) and cooked more from scratch (20% increase, p<0.001). Children’s consumption of discretionary food/drinks was significantly reduced after the EBFBCP for sugary drinks (10% reduction, p=0.012), savoury snacks (18%, p=0.012), biscuits (17%, p=0.007), sweets/chocolates (23%, p=0.002), fried/roasted potatoes (17%, p<0.001) and savoury pastries (11%, p<0.001). The number of fruit (15%, p=0.008) and vegetable portions (10%, p<0.001) increased, while the number of biscuit portions decreased (13%, p=0.005). Parental food label reading increased (calories, 22%; fat, 23%; sugar, 22%; ingredients, 19%; and portion size, 19%). Most changes were sustained at a median of 10 months’ follow-up.ConclusionThe EBFBCP improved children’s and families’ food choices and behaviours. The EBFBCP can be recommended to support families to make better food choices.

Assessing the scale and spread of an experiential teaching kitchen in after-school programming among school-age children

“…The majority of previous studies in adults and children who have used a community-based approach to improve cooking skills have led to improvements in self-reported outcomes. (17)(18)(19)(20) Our results are consistent with these findings and advance the literature by both describing the process by which such a programme can be scaled-up to multiple centres and highlighting several areas for future research in experiential teaching kitchen design. First, there were statistically significant sub-group differences on the follow-up outcomes.…”

“…This is a novel observation enabled by the current study's broad age range (6-14 years), in contrast to previous studies with more narrow age ranges. (17)(18)(19)(20) When scaling up a community-based nutritional intervention, there are at least two theoretical domains that need to be considered, including (1) implementation fidelity and (2) course corrections during implementation. (21) The current study included a systematic assessment of programme fidelity, which was consistently high (97•5 %).…”

The drivers, trends and dietary impacts of non-nutritive sweeteners in the food supply: a narrative review

“…media campaigns (6,137,(162)(163)(164)(165)(166)(167)(168)(169)(170) , community education (171)(172)(173)(174)(175)(176)(177)(178) and education in schools and childcare centres (179)(180)(181)(182)(183)(184)(185)(186)(187)(188)(189)(190)(191)(192)(193)(194)(195)(196) on the harms of excess added sugar consumption. Of the studies exploring this policy action (n 39), only eight (Table 4) addressed the impact that education interventions to reduce added sugar intake may have on NNS consumption and levels in the food supply.…”

An Exploration of Nutritional Education within the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in England

“…The inclusion of nutritional education in HAF is most likely based on prior research that suggests that community-based cooking programmes improve the dietary intake of both school-aged children and their wider families [ 14 ]. Such sessions have been shown to enhance cooking confidence and nutritional knowledge, which in turn, improves dietary habits and food literacy [ 15 ].…”