Nutrition, Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Food Literacy, Cooking Skills
Brief summary
The purpose of the research study is to learn more about the best ways to teach cooking and food skills to adults, and how cooking classes may help reduce one's stress and food waste, as well as improve their diet.
Detailed description
Currently, 12.8% of Americans experience food insecurity, and food insecurity is associated with elevated perceived stress. Food literacy is proficiency in food-related skills and knowledge, including food preparation and cooking skills, basic nutrition knowledge, and the ability to prevent food waste. Recent research conducted in Australia suggests that food literacy interventions are associated with improved food security. Traditionally food literacy interventions take a recipe-based approach to culinary nutrition and lack information about key components of food literacy, such as food storage and food waste reduction techniques. However, recent research by the PI contends that recipes may be difficult for food insecure individuals to implement at home, given the challenge of procuring ingredients, suggesting the need for a new approach. In addition, food insecure households face additional environmental challenges, such as owning fewer cooking utensils, compared to food secure households. Based on the Social Cognitive Theory, the Nourish intervention addresses these limitations by incorporating food waste reduction, food storage knowledge, and improvisational cooking skills (cooking with what you have on hand) into food literacy and culinary nutrition education, as well as providing key cooking utensils. Eventually, the study team plans to test the impact of the Nourish intervention on food literacy, perceived stress, diet quality and food security to determine if food literacy interventions can positively impact perceived stress, diet, and food security. The present pilot study will test the feasibility and acceptability of the Nourish intervention and corresponding evaluation, as well as provide participant feedback on the intervention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALcooking and food skills intervention
Participants will attend a weekly in-person class with brief instructional video clips, hands-on cooking and tasting experiences. Participants will work individually and as part of small groups during instructional sessions. At the end of each class, participants will receive a grocery bundle and a kitchen gadget that serves both as an incentive and implementation support to promote improved cooking frequency and confidence. Participants will be asked to post photos of what they made with their groceries to an instant messaging software (GroupMe application) and be encouraged to engage with fellow classmates on GroupMe to encourage social support of cooking. The intervention ends after the 8, weekly classes conclude (8 weeks total intervention time)
Sponsors
Case Western Reserve University
American University
Purdue University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18 and over * Ability to attend classes in person
Exclusion criteria
* Non-English speaking
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Food Waste Volume | Change from Baseline to 10 weeks post-randomization | Food waste volume will be measured in grams using a study-provided food scale and waste log. Participants are asked to weigh discarded food and log the weight in a food waste tracking notebook for a period of 1 week prior to randomization at Baseline, and again for a period of 1 week at 10 weeks post-randomization. The outcome measure will use the difference in total volume of food waste between the two time points (post total food waste - pre total food waste). |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMelissa Prescott, PhD
Case Western Reserve University
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORBrenna Ellison, PhD
Purdue University
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Within 20 minutes of participant informed consent, enrolled participants were randomized into groups. All enrolled participants were randomized.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | — |
|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 42.67 Years |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 0 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 4 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 4 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Female | 2 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Male | 0 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Other | 0 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 18 | 0 / 8 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 18 | 0 / 8 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 18 | 0 / 8 |
Outcome results
None listed