Children’s psychosocial factors of healthy meal preparation as predictors for nutritional status measures

Abstract

Abstract. Involving school-age children in the preparation of healthy meals is shown to be associated with positive eating behavior. Yet, it remains unclear whether this can extend to their nutritional status. The present study aimed to determine the association of school-age children’s psychosocial factors (knowledge, attitude, practice, self-efficacy) towards healthy meal preparation with their nutritional status (BMI-for-age, waist circumference, body fat percentage). Stratified random sampling was used to select primary schools (n = 8) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two hundred school children aged between 9–11 years old were involved. Psychosocial factors towards healthy meal preparation were assessed using validated questionnaire. Anthropometry measures were determined using standard protocol. Almost half (46 %) of the school-age children were obese/overweight, 39 % were abdominally obese and 40 % were overfat. Approximately half had poor knowledge (49 %), poor practice (45 %), good attitude (56 %) and good self-efficacy (47 %) towards healthy meal preparation. Significant positive correlations were observed between knowledge with attitude (r = 0.23, p < 0.001); knowledge with self-efficacy (r = 0.30, p < 0.001); attitude with practice (r = 0.34, p < 0.001); attitude with self-efficacy (r = 0.59, p < 0.001) and practice with self-efficacy (r = 0.50, p < 0.001). Adjusted logistic regression revealed that school-age children with good attitude were less likely to be abdominally obese (OR = 0.87, 95 % Cl = 0.78 to 0.96) and overfat (OR = 0.84, 95 % Cl = 0.76 to 0.94). Children with good knowledge had lower risk of being abdominally obese (OR = 0.84, 95 % Cl = 0.72 to 0.97). Findings revealed that children’s psychosocial factors were interrelated, and improvements may have the potential in affecting nutritional status. Hands-on healthy meal preparation should be explored further as an innovative approach to address the obesity epidemic.

Involvement of children in hands‐on meal preparation and the associated nutrition outcomes: A scoping review

“…A more recent cross-sectional study assessed children's healthy meal preparation practice using a validated and reliable questionnaire, consisting of various tasks related to meal preparation. 12 Although such a measure is not widely used yet, it can be useful to specifically assess children's practice of healthy meal preparation using more than a one-item measure.…”

“…25 Furthermore, one study explored the associations with weight status and found that children with good attitude and knowledge of healthy meal preparation were less likely to be abdominally obese and overfat. 12 On the other hand, limited associations were found for BMI-for-age z-score. It is also noteworthy that most observational studies depended on self-reported data and, as such, results should be interpreted with caution.…”

“…This is important to note because of the difficulties in differentiating between preparing meals from scratch using healthy ingredients and preparing ready‐made foods/preparing meals using unhealthy ingredients based on one‐item measure. A more recent cross‐sectional study assessed children's healthy meal preparation practice using a validated and reliable questionnaire, consisting of various tasks related to meal preparation 12 . Although such a measure is not widely used yet, it can be useful to specifically assess children's practice of healthy meal preparation ​using more than a one‐item measure.…”

“…Increasing evidence, including observational 11,12 and experimental studies, 13,14 has documented the positive implications in psychosocial factors (e.g., attitude, self‐efficacy), actual nutrition‐related behaviour (e.g., food consumption) and weight status [e.g., body mass index (BMI)‐for‐age z ‐score] of children who helped to prepare meals at home or in a research setting. Earlier, a literature review explored the associations between the involvement of youths (< 18 years old) in home meal preparation with dietary intake 15 .…”

A Research Protocol of Hands-On Healthy Meal Preparation Intervention (Kidchen Study) to Improve Children’s Nutritional Outcomes

“…In learning to cook, children can be empowered to prepare healthful meals, learn about ingredients, gain a strong sense of personal achievement and the knowledge that allows them to judge more healthful alternatives when eating away from home (Levy & Auld 2004). Although it was reported that children had poor knowledge and practice towards healthy meal preparation (Ng et al 2020b), they had positive attitude and selfefficacy, suggesting that hands-on healthy meal preparation is liked by children and could be a potential health-promotion strategy.…”