Development of the iCook 4-H Curriculum for Youth and Adults: Cooking, Eating, and Playing Together for Childhood Obesity Prevention

Abstract

The objective was to describe the development process of a curriculum (iCook 4-H) targeted to low-income, rural, and/or diverse youths and their adult primary meal preparer to promote cooking, eating, and playing together. Lessons learned highlighted the importance of grounding the curriculum in Social Cognitive Theory and applying the experiential 4-H learning model using a multiphased, community-based participatory approach with cyclical development and evaluation, and key modifications made for dissemination and distribution. Findings across 4 testing phases over 6 years and 5 states demonstrated the time-intensive, cyclical process that required flexibility with fidelity to form a hands-on, interactive curriculum.

The iCook 4-H Study: An Intervention and Dissemination Test of a Youth/Adult Out-of-School Program

“…49 Intervention Study procedures. The treatment group participated in a curriculum 21 that was composed of 6 2hour, biweekly sessions on cooking, eating, and playing together, called iCook 4-H. Dyads received $10 (for a maximum of $60) at each of the 6 sessions they attended, to support intervention-specific costs (eg, travel or food purchases); youths were also given video cameras to record athome cooking, eating, and playing activities (unpublished data, S.E. Colby, PhD, RD, 2018).…”

“…Although control and treatment intervention study designs were used in both studies, the Intervention Study was a randomized, controlled trial whereas the Dissemination Study was not randomized. The Dissemination Study was defined as a test of the 8-session iCook 4-H curriculum 21 in the natural or practice environment with minimal researcher intervention and funding. The overall aim of the iCook 4-H Study was to increase cooking competence, family mealtimes, and physical activity of youths to have an impact on the incidence of childhood obesity.…”

Development and Testing of Program Evaluation Instruments for the iCook 4-H Curriculum

“…The SCT informed the development of the iCook 4-H curriculum. 2 Sessions designed for youths and adults to cook, eat, and play together were developed to provide opportunities for observational learning and reciprocal role-modeling, along with building behavioral capability, culinary self-efficacy, and reinforcement of behavior both in the sessions and at home between sessions. Based on a thorough review of the curriculum, these constructs were carried over into the development of the program evaluation instruments, so that the key components of cooking, eating, and playing behavior, role modeling, culinary self-efficacy, and family activities within the home environment provided the basis for items.…”

“…1 During the intervention phase, the treatment group participated in a 12-week, 6-session, face-to face program curriculum for dyads to cook, eat, and play together, with additional activities between months 4 and 24. The curriculum, 2 which was based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) 3 and the 4-H experiential learning approach, 4 was developed for out-of-school youth programming, primarily within 4-H/extension with the ability to adapt to other program venues. The SCT was used because of the emphasis of iCook 4-H on having an impact on personal, environmental, and behavioral factors with a focus on reciprocal role modeling.…”

“…1 For the dissemination phase, the curriculum was modified to be 14 weeks with 8 sessions. 2 The study was implemented at the 5 landgrant universities in Maine, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.…”