A perspective on nutrition education and training

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of a nutrition education intervention for elementary school children, grades K–6, called the Cookshop Program. It was designed to increase preferences for and consumption of minimally processed whole grains and vegetables through cooking these foods in the classroom along with multiple exposures to the same foods in the cafeteria and parent involvement. It emphasized how eating a plant-based diet was not only important for personal health but was also resource conserving or more ecologically sustainable. This outcome evaluation study compared cooking as an educational strategy with the more usual active participatory educational methods. The study used a quasi-experimental, pre/post intervention-comparison group design with 39 classes (590 students) assigned approximately equally, through matching, to four conditions: cookshops plus food and environment lessons (CS + FEL), cookshops only (CS), food and environment lessons only (FEL), and comparison condition (Com), receiving neither cookshops nor lessons. Data were analyzed using a 2 x 2 factorial design using analysis of covariance. Class was the unit of analysis. Main positive effects were obtained for CS on preferences, knowledge, and plate waste in both younger and older children and on behavioral intention in younger children and cooking self-efficacy in older children. Main positive effects were obtained for FEL in knowledge for both age groups. The results suggest that actual cooking experiences and eating food with peers, accompanied by cognitive learning, may provide a promising approach to nutrition education, especially for younger children. Lack of random assignment of classes to conditions was a limitation of the study. Further research is needed to evaluate this approach using randomized designs.