Effectiveness of Australian cooking skill interventions

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of cooking skill interventions (CSIs) targeting adults to improve dietary intakes in public health nutrition settings. Design/methodology/approach A scoping review of the literature was used to identify and assess the quality and effectiveness of Australian single-strategy CSIs and multi-strategy programmes that included cooking for independent healthy people older than 16 years from 1992 to 2015. Findings There were only 15 interventions (n=15) identified for review and included CSIs as single strategies (n=8) or as part of multi-strategy programmes (n=7) over 23 years. The majority of the interventions were rated as weak in quality (66 per cent) due to their study design, lack of control groups, lack of validated evaluation measures and small sample sizes. Just over half (53 per cent) of the CSIs reviewed described some measurement related to improved dietary behaviours. Research limitations/implications There is inconclusive evidence that CSIs are effective in changing dietary behaviours in Australia. However, they are valued by policymakers and practitioners and used in public health nutrition programmes, particularly for indigenous groups. Originality/value This is the first time that CSIs have been reviewed in an Australian context and they provide evidence of the critical need to improve the quality CSIs to positively influence dietary behaviour change in Australia.

The Role of a Food Literacy Intervention in Promoting Food Security and Food Literacy—OzHarvest’s NEST Program

“…Vidgen and Gallegos define food literacy as 'a collection of inter-related knowledge, skills and behaviours required to plan, manage, select, prepare and eat food to meet needs and determine intake' [10] (p. 54), and as, 'the scaffolding that empowers individuals, households, communities or nations to protect diet quality through change and strengthen dietary resilience over time' [10] (p. 54). Food literacy interventions have been shown to provide individuals with these skills that contribute to health [10,11]. However, the role that food literacy interventions play in addressing food security remains unclear [8,11].…”

“…Food literacy interventions have been shown to provide individuals with these skills that contribute to health [10,11]. However, the role that food literacy interventions play in addressing food security remains unclear [8,11]. Poor food literacy may exacerbate food insecurity, or experiencing food insecurity may restrict an individual's ability to practice food literacy behaviours and achieve adequate diet quality [8].…”

“…Poor food literacy may exacerbate food insecurity, or experiencing food insecurity may restrict an individual's ability to practice food literacy behaviours and achieve adequate diet quality [8]. Hence, food literacy interventions cannot address the upstream determinants of food insecurity, such as access and affordability [8,11]. There remains a strong need for upstream interventions and policies, therefore, food literacy interventions can only be expected to be part of this broader approach to improving food security.…”

How Does Time Use Differ between Individuals Who Do More versus Less Foodwork? A Compositional Data Analysis of Time Use in the United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015

“…Observational evidence suggests that higher frequency of making [1][2][3][4][5] and eating [4,6,7] home-prepared meals, while not a prerequisite for a healthy diet [8], is associated with improved dietary intake and health outcomes. Substantial energy has been devoted to understanding the modifiable determinants of home food preparation and increasing food preparation in households [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Evaluation Tool Development for Food Literacy Programs

“…The gap in development of valid and reliable tools was recognised over 15 years ago, particularly for programs focusing on low-income populations [ 11 , 12 ]. In Australia, there is a deficit of well-evaluated programs [ 9 , 13 ]. Limited evaluation is due to time and resource constraints and challenges with lower literacy levels of the participant group.…”