Nutrition education and cooking classes with teen and adolescent mothers

Abstract

A pilot study evaluated the effect of nutrition education and cooking classes on nutrition knowledge, cooking knowledge, self‐efficacy towards cooking and healthy eating, and dietary habits of young mothers enrolled in life‐skill classes at the YWCA of Greensboro. This feasibility study is a two condition (group 1, and group 2) repeated measures (pretest, posttest, and follow‐up) design. The project used a convenience sample of 15 young mothers enrolled in the Teen Parent Mentor Program and Healthy Moms Healthy Babies program at the YWCA. Seven nutrition education and cooking classes were conducted at the YWCA facility as part of their programming. Class topics included information on kitchen safety/ sanitation, how to read a food label, fats, how to shop on a budget, portion control, meal planning, and feeding your child. Mothers helped prepare weekly recipes that included fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Women received all educational handouts and recipes. Sixty‐four percent of the participants found the class topics in general to be very helpful, while 73% found the cooking activities to be very helpful. Also, 67% of them affirmed that the handouts were very helpful. Findings of this study will be used to continue develop culturally relevant nutrition interventions to improve the nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and cooking skills of young mothers in community‐based environments