Nutrition and Culinary in the Kitchen Program: a randomized controlled intervention to promote cooking skills and healthy eating in university students – study protocol

Abstract

BackgroundCommunity-based intervention studies that aim at developing cooking skills have increased in the scientific literature and are related to healthier food practices. However, methodological limitations are observed and only a few studies have university students as the target. The university entrance period has been related to negative changes in eating habits among young people and it represents an important period for developing interventions for health promotion. This study describes the study protocol and the evaluation framework for the Nutrition and Culinary in the Kitchen program. This program aims to develop cooking skills in university students, and is based on the Cooking with a Chef program in the United States.MethodsThis ongoing, randomized controlled intervention was designed with a six month follow-up study. The intervention consisted of three-hour weekly classes during a six week period with printed materials provided. Five of the classes were hands-on cooking and one was a tour to a popular food market. There were eight primary outcome measures: changes in relation to i) accessibility and availability of fruits and vegetables; ii) cooking attitudes; iii) cooking behaviors at home; iv) cooking behaviors away from home; v) produce consumption self-efficacy; vi) self-efficacy for using basic cooking techniques; vii) self-efficacy for using fruits, vegetables, and seasonings (while cooking); and viii) knowledge of cooking terms and techniques. Secondary outcomes included changes in body mass index and in personal characteristics related to cooking. Repeated measures were collected through the application of an online self-completed survey, at baseline, after intervention and six months after intervention. A sample of 80 university students (40: intervention group; 40: control group) was estimated to detect a mean change of 1.5 points in cooking knowledge, with study power of 80%, and 95% level of confidence, plus 20% for random losses and 10% for confounding factors. The control group participants have continued with their usual activities. Data analyses will evaluate the intervention effect on changes in outcomes within and between groups, as well as explore relations with personal characteristics.DiscussionThis method provides new evidence about whether or not a culinary intervention targeting university students has an impact on the improvement of cooking skills and healthy eating practices.Trial registrationBrazilian Clinical Trials Registry - RBR-8nwxh5 (http://www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-8nwxh5/)

Health, lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics are associated with Brazilian dietary patterns: Brazilian National Health Survey

“…The most frequently consumed food group was the high-energy content and low nutritional quality one: alcoholic beverages, fried foods, pizza, soft drinks, and sandwiches [ 71 ]. Lack of time to prepare food, lack of access to healthy food in schools and universities, financial instability, poor culinary skills, little knowledge about food preparation, lack of cooking equipment, and easy access to processed products were indicated as the main reasons for eating unhealthily [ 72 ]. In this scenario, the provision of healthy food in school and university environments could be a strategy to promote healthy eating habits among young people.…”

Cooking skills during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…In Brazil, the Nutrition in Foodservice Research Centre of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (NUPPRE-UFSC) has experience in performing studies on cooking skills. The group developed the Nutrition and Culinary in the Kitchen (NCK) program [14,15], a cooking intervention that was shown to improve the cooking skills of public university students in southern Brazil for up to six months. Although NCK program was aimed at university students, it was based on dietary recommendations for the general Brazilian population (individuals aged 2 years and older).…”

Three-year review of a capacity building pilot for a sustainable regional network on food, nutrition and health systems education in India

“…There is evidence detailing the use of hands on methods of teaching to provide nutrition education in a number of different settings, but the use in poorly educated marginalised communities has not to date been documented. [15][16][17][18][19][20] The kitchen continues to develop, and following its initial educational intervention it was planned to visit at least monthly for continued engagement, but in fact it has grown beyond this as can be seen through activities including a microenterprise model, selling food and providing education to members of the public in Kolkata through the participants originally educated in the marginalised communities. 21 Our review depicts the journey and development of those involved from NNEdPro in establishing the project, using the data and details collected through 3 years of work.…”