A community feasibility study of a cooking behavior intervention in African-American adults at risk for cardiovascular disease: DC COOKS (DC Community Organizing for Optimal culinary Knowledge Study) with Heart

Nicole Farmer,Sharon Flynn,Tiffany M Powell-Wiley,Timothy Harlan,Rachel Hingst,Shanna Yang,Lucy Swan,Valerie Mitchell,Seema Kakar,Gwenyth R Wallen,Brenda Roberson,Alyssa T Brooks,Billy Collins,Narjis Kazmi,Kimberly R Middleton

doi:10.1186/s40814-020-00697-9

Abstract

BackgroundCooking interventions have increased in popularity in recent years. Evaluation by meta-analyses and systematic reviews show consistent changes in dietary quality reports and cooking confidence, but not of cardiovascular (CVD) biomarkers. Interventions evaluating or reporting behavioral mechanisms as an explanatory factor for these outcomes has been sparse. Moreover, evaluations of cooking interventions among communities with health disparities or food access limitations have received little attention in the literature.MethodsThis study will occur over two phases. Phase 1 will assess acceptability among the target population of African-American adults living within an urban food desert. Phase 2 will consist of a 6-week cooking intervention delivered at a community kitchen setting. Pre and post intervention visits for clinical examinations and biomarker collection will be conducted, as well as dietary and cooking skill assessments. Primary outcomes include cooking behavior and feasibility measures. Secondary outcomes are related to dietary quality, psychosocial factors, CVD biomarkers, and food environment measures.DiscussionThis study seeks to demonstrate feasibility of a community-based cooking intervention and to provide necessary information to plan future interventions that identify cooking behavior as an outcome of participation in cooking interventions among African-American adults, especially in relation to dietary and biomarker outcomes.Trial registrationThis study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04305431) on March 12, 2020.

Highlights

Cooking interventions have increased in popularity in recent years
Study population Based on the prior Community-based participatory research (CBPR) study, the proposed target communities for this study show a need for dietary CV risk reduction based on the risk for obesity, and on dietary intake
With dietary guidelines focusing on foods that require cooking and preparation, such as fruits and vegetables, it is important to identify dietary behaviors which may promote adherence to current guidelines

Summary

Introduction

Evaluation by meta-analyses and systematic reviews show consistent changes in dietary quality reports and cooking confidence, but not of cardiovascular (CVD) biomarkers. Evaluations of cooking interventions among communities with health disparities or food access limitations have received little attention in the literature. Closing the CVD disparity gap may require attention to more proximal causes of CVD that lower risk factors, including cardiovascular health behaviors such as dietary intake and physical activity. Dietary behaviors consist of eating habits, food/nutrition choices, and meal preparation or cooking behavior. It is possible that the inability for Americans to meet the recommended guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption [7] may be a public health consequence of the reduction in cooking at-home and shift to convenience foods

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