Cooking with Kids: Integrating Classroom, Cafeteria, and Family Experiences to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Preference and Intake

Cooking with Kids: Integrating Classroom, Cafeteria, and Family Experiences to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Preference and Intake

Principal Investigator: Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, Ph.D., RD
Start and End Dates: 4/01/06– 3/31/10
Source of Funding: United States Department of Agriculture

Does positive, hands-on experience with fresh and affordable foods, including tasting fruits and vegetables and cooking foods from diverse cultural traditions, increase children’s preferences for and consumption of these foods? Will positive experiences with fruits and vegetables in the classroom plus cafeteria promotion improve students’ acceptance of fruits and vegetables? Can family food preparation and eating practices be modified to support more healthful dietary patterns? Do these experiences contribute to more healthful food choices, and thus reduce children’s risk for developing obesity and chronic diseases?

This integrated research, education and extension project will investigate the effects of two levels of intensity and enhancement of an innovative experiential classroom cooking program called Cooking With Kids (CWK;www.cookingwithkids.net), on fruit and vegetable intake and determinants of food choice (fruit and vegetable preference and availability, food neophobia, cooking attitudes and self-efficacy, and family food preparation and eating practices). This project involves partners from school food and nutrition programs, community nutrition research, and Cooperative Extension, in its design, implementation, and evaluation, and works with especially vulnerable groups: economically disadvantaged Hispanic and American Indian children. The design includes a research component to test and refine innovative assessment tools for both children and adults within a larger evaluation framework. This project will support USDA strategic planning goals to improve the nation’s nutrition and health by increasing children’s preferences for and consumption of fruits and vegetables, and enhancing economic opportunities for agricultural producers.

Specific aims of this project are:

1) Phase I: refine and test CWK classroom, cafeteria, and family intervention components, refine previously piloted instruments to assess determinants of food choice through rigorous validity and reliability testing, and refine and test process and other outcome evaluation measures;

2) Phase II: design and carry out an investigation of the effects of two versions of the CWK program: a) the full CWK classroom Cooking and Tasting curriculum + cafeteria meals + family intervention; compared with b) the CWKTasting (only) curriculum + cafeteria meals + family intervention; and to c) control, among a cohort of approximately 675 3 rd grade students and their parents for two years; and

3) Phase III: disseminate CWK intervention and evaluation components through training and technical assistance to other school districts and community nutrition programs using the Cooperative Extension network.

Research Hypothesis:
Compared to students in the control condition, students in both intervention conditions will:

A. Report greater intake of and preference for fruits and vegetables,
B. Report lower food neophobia scores,
C. Report improved family food preparation and eating practices, and
D. Report greater cooking self-efficacy and cooking attitudes.

It is expected that compared to students receiving the less intensive Tasting classes, students receiving the Cooking and Tasting classroom intervention will report greater changes in the above reported conditions.

For additional information about this project and its activities, contact Dr. Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, PhD, RD, at 505.272.4462 or ldcunningham-sabo@salud.unm.edu.

Project Personnel :

Lynn Walters, M.S.
Senior Program Manager
walters@osogrande.com

Jane Stacey, BS
Program Specialist
janes@cybermesa.com

Pamela Sedillo
Program Coordinator
Psedillo@salud.unm.edu