Cook-EdTM: A Model for Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Cooking Programs to Improve Diet and Health.

Roberta C Asher,Tammie Jakstas,Clare E Collins,Tamara Bucher,Moira Dean,Tracy Burrows,Beth Innes,Vanessa A Shrewsbury,Anna J Rose,Kerith Duncanson,Fiona Lavelle,Julia A Wolfson

doi:10.3390/nu12072011

Abstract

Domestic cooking education programs are typically designed to improve an individual’s food and cooking skills, although not necessarily diet quality. Currently, there are no comprehensive models to guide the planning, implementation and evaluation of domestic cooking education programs that focus on improving diet and health. Our aim was to address this through development of the Cooking Education (“Cook-EdTM”) model, using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model as the underlying Cook-EdTM framework. A review of the food and cooking skills education literature informed the content of the Cook-EdTM model. Cook-EdTM was critiqued by experts in consumer behaviour, cooking and nutrition education research and education until consensus on model content and format was reached. Cook-EdTM leads cooking program developers through eight distinct stages, engaging key stakeholders in a co-design process from the outset to tailor programs to address the need of individuals and inform the development of program content, program delivery, and evaluation. A Cook-EdTM scenario applied in practice is described. The proposed Cook-EdTM model has potential to be adapted for use in domestic cooking education programs delivered in clinical, community, school or research settings. Further research will establish Cook-EdTM’s utility in enhancing program development and in improving food and cooking skills, dietary patterns and health outcomes.

Highlights

There is a paucity of empirical research regarding which theoretical constructs contribute to producing domestic cooking programs effective in modifying dietary behaviours and diet-relatedNutrients 2020, 12, 2011; doi:10.3390/nu12072011 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrientsNutrients 2020, 12, 2011 health outcomes [1,2]
The Cook-EdTM model can be used to guide the development of cooking programs that focus on skills for preparing healthy foods and used to revise or evaluate existing programs or appraise methods used by other programs
When developing or reviewing existing cooking programs, a targeted search of the published and grey literature will help to identify previous programs used in a specific target group or setting

Summary

Introduction

There is a paucity of empirical research regarding which theoretical constructs contribute to producing domestic cooking programs effective in modifying dietary behaviours and diet-relatedNutrients 2020, 12, 2011; doi:10.3390/nu12072011 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrientsNutrients 2020, 12, 2011 health outcomes [1,2]. Systematic reviews conclude that cooking interventions positively influence diet quality [3,4] and cooking confidence [3] with generally positive effects on other health outcomes such as blood pressure, cholesterol [4] and quality of life [3,4,5] in adults. These conclusions cannot be stated with certainty due to study design heterogeneity (e.g., populations studied, outcome measures), limited use of validated instruments to measure outcomes and methodological weaknesses (e.g., limited use of theory to guide content selection and evaluation, lack of control groups or power calculations, inadequate process evaluation) [3,4,6].

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