Collecting Highlights From Leaders About a Cooking and Physical Activity Program for Family Dyads: iCook 4-H

Abstract

ObjectiveTo collect highlights from program leaders about what parents and children said during iCook 4-H, a cooking and physical activity program for family dyads made up of a 9-10 year old child and their primary adult meal preparer.Study Design, Setting, Participants, and InterventionQualitative study with survey and focus groups.Outcome, Measures and AnalysisA survey (n=6 questions) was developed with the program themes of family togetherness in cooking, eating and being physically active. For each theme, questions were asked to elicit feedback about what leaders heard from parents and children during the program sessions, as well as their own impressions. The survey was administered in an online format or focus group setting across the 5 states.ResultsLeaders from all states reported similar highlights stating that parents were impressed with the cooking skills that their children were capable of and they tried many of the healthy recipes at home. Family mealtime posed challenges to most dyads and parents faced competition for family time from “technology.” They reported that both parents and children enjoyed the physical activities and talked about trying the activities at home.Conclusions and ImplicationsFindings from this qualitative study add evidence that iCook activities were being transferred to the home environment. There is also evidence that confronting barriers to family mealtime may need to be addressed in the program as it is refined for dissemination.FundingUSDAAdditional FundingFunding provided by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Grant no. 2012-68001-19605 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Childhood Obesity Prevention: Integrated Research, Education, and Extension to Prevent Childhood Obesity, A21 ObjectiveTo collect highlights from program leaders about what parents and children said during iCook 4-H, a cooking and physical activity program for family dyads made up of a 9-10 year old child and their primary adult meal preparer. To collect highlights from program leaders about what parents and children said during iCook 4-H, a cooking and physical activity program for family dyads made up of a 9-10 year old child and their primary adult meal preparer. Study Design, Setting, Participants, and InterventionQualitative study with survey and focus groups. Qualitative study with survey and focus groups. Outcome, Measures and AnalysisA survey (n=6 questions) was developed with the program themes of family togetherness in cooking, eating and being physically active. For each theme, questions were asked to elicit feedback about what leaders heard from parents and children during the program sessions, as well as their own impressions. The survey was administered in an online format or focus group setting across the 5 states. A survey (n=6 questions) was developed with the program themes of family togetherness in cooking, eating and being physically active. For each theme, questions were asked to elicit feedback about what leaders heard from parents and children during the program sessions, as well as their own impressions. The survey was administered in an online format or focus group setting across the 5 states. ResultsLeaders from all states reported similar highlights stating that parents were impressed with the cooking skills that their children were capable of and they tried many of the healthy recipes at home. Family mealtime posed challenges to most dyads and parents faced competition for family time from “technology.” They reported that both parents and children enjoyed the physical activities and talked about trying the activities at home. Leaders from all states reported similar highlights stating that parents were impressed with the cooking skills that their children were capable of and they tried many of the healthy recipes at home. Family mealtime posed challenges to most dyads and parents faced competition for family time from “technology.” They reported that both parents and children enjoyed the physical activities and talked about trying the activities at home. Conclusions and ImplicationsFindings from this qualitative study add evidence that iCook activities were being transferred to the home environment. There is also evidence that confronting barriers to family mealtime may need to be addressed in the program as it is refined for dissemination. Findings from this qualitative study add evidence that iCook activities were being transferred to the home environment. There is also evidence that confronting barriers to family mealtime may need to be addressed in the program as it is refined for dissemination.