CooC11 and CooC7: the development and validation of age appropriate children’s perceived cooking competence measures

Abstract

Background Learning cooking skills during childhood and adolescence is associated with positive dietary outcomes in adulthood as well as being tracked from adolescence to adulthood. In addition studies have found that perceived competence to be a greater motivator to perform a behaviour than actual competence. However, a lack of validated tools that effectively measure behavioural and dietary changes including cooking confidence in children is a limitation. Therefore, this research aimed to develop and validate age-appropriate perceived cooking competence measures for younger and older primary school aged children. Methods Two measures of perceived Cooking Competence (CooC11 and CooC7) for older (8–12 years) and younger (6–7 years) children were developed from a critical evaluation of publically available recommendations and expert consultation. The cooking skills within the measures were illustrated by a graphic designer in consultation with a chef and reviewed in an iterative manner by the research team. The measures were piloted for clarity, ease of use and initial face validity. Multiple studies were used for both CooC11 and CooC7 to establish psychometric properties of the measures, temporal stability, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, as well as responsiveness to change for CooC11. Analysis included Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Intraclass Correlation Coefficients, Pearson’s Correlations, ANOVAs and Cronbach’s Alphas. Results Both measures had high levels of face validity and received positive user feedback. Two factors were shown in both measures with the measures showing excellent temporal stability (ICC > 0.9) and good internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alphas > 0.7). Both measures showed initial discriminant validity, with significant differences (P< 0.001) between those who reported assisting their parents with dinner preparation and those who did not. Additionally, CooC11 was significantly correlated with an adult cooking measure and had a significant responsiveness to change (P< 0.01). Conclusions The CooC11 and CooC7 are the first validated age-appropriate measures for assessing children’s perceived Cooking Competence for ages 8–12 and 6–7 years respectively. They can be used to evaluate the efficacy of children’s cooking intervention studies or school nutrition education programmes.

Effectiveness of a School-Based Culinary Programme on 9- and 10-Year-Old Children’s Food Literacy and Vegetable, Fruit, and Breakfast Consumption

“…The questionnaire was inspired by a variety of existing tools, including validated questionnaires from Skeaff et al (2020), Dean et al (2021), Lavelle et al (2017), and the New Brunswick Student Wellness Survey [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Additional questions were also developed in collaboration with the Healthy Eating and Social Entrepreneurship Coordinator of the DSFS to ensure that all variables of interest were measured.…”

Evaluation of the PhunkyFoods intervention on food literacy and cooking skills of children aged 7–9 years: a cluster randomised controlled trial in Yorkshire Primary Schools UK

“…No other changes were made to the content, structure, order, or phrasing of questions in the survey design that could have an impact on internal consistency. Cooking skills will be measured by the CooC11 child survey by Dean et al [ 15 ] at baseline (T1) and at 12 months after intervention delivery (T2). CooC11 and CooC7 are two measures of cooking competence developed and reviewed by an expert panel, based on new recommendations about children’s developmental skills and are relevant for this specific age group [ 15 , 16 ].…”

“… Cooking skills will be measured by the CooC11 child survey by Dean et al [ 15 ] at baseline (T1) and at 12 months after intervention delivery (T2). CooC11 and CooC7 are two measures of cooking competence developed and reviewed by an expert panel, based on new recommendations about children’s developmental skills and are relevant for this specific age group [ 15 , 16 ]. The internal consistency reliability of CooC11 was good, with a Cronbach score of 0.86 and a temporal stability rating ICC of 0.91.…”

“…The internal consistency reliability of CooC11 was good, with a Cronbach score of 0.86 and a temporal stability rating ICC of 0.91. The measure was shown to be responsive to change in the cooking camp intervention with differences in pre-cooking camp mean (SD) of 21.75 (7.89) to post camp mean of 26.13 (8.89) [ 15 ].…”

“…The study by Dean and colleagues in 2019, based on 469 participants and using CooC11 to assess cooking competence, showed a significant increase ( p < 0.01) in cooking competence at follow-up after the camp-based intervention compared with results at baseline [ 15 ]. The results of CooC11 at baseline (mean (SD)) were 21.75 (7.89) and at follow-up 26.13 (8.89).…”