Create Our Own Kai: An intensive cooking class for healthy adolescents - A pilot study

Participants will attend informal, interactive cooking classes for five consecutive days. during December 2016. Each of the five days classes will last approximately seven hours. Participants will learn how to cook ten meals, in groups of two, and we will provide all the food for them to do this. These classes are especially designed for adolescents and to be fun. They will be led by a trained chef and dietitian who have previosly developed this prorgam and ran it successfully in South Australian schools. There will be input from local role models. Participants will also be able to ask any questions they have about food and health. We will also ask them to fill in a questionnaire about food and cooking and things related to this (e.g. physical activity, food choice) and measure their height and weight. On the last day of the classes they will cook a meal for their family, who will be invited to join the class to eat this, and to take part in another cooking and information session. Classes will take part in the University of Otago College of Education Food Technology suite.