Culinary Medicine, Obesity & Overweight
Conditions
Brief summary
The goal of this quasi-experimental interventional study is to learn if healthy cooking classes for home cooks can improve weight management and dietary quality among Emirati adults with overweight or obesity living in Abu Dhabi. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does participation in the culinary medicine program reduce body weight over time? * Does the intervention improve diet quality and increase compliance with healthy home-cooked meals? * Does the intervention improve health measures such as waist circumference, body fat percentage, blood pressure, and heart rate? * What are the experiences and satisfaction levels of participating family members and trained home cooks? Participants will: * Enroll in a 3-month family-based nutrition intervention program * Receive meals prepared by home cooks trained in culinary medicine through the ICCA program * Complete assessments before the intervention, during the intervention, and 3 months after completion * Undergo measurements including weight, waist circumference, body fat percentage, blood pressure, and heart rate * Complete questionnaires about diet quality, meal habits, and overall program experience
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCulinary Medicine Healthy Cooking and Home Meal Implementation Program
This intervention consists of a 4-week structured culinary medicine training program delivered by ICCA to designated household home cooks. The training includes theoretical nutrition education and practical cooking sessions focused on healthy meal preparation techniques aimed at reducing chronic disease risk. Following completion of training and certification, home cooks implement these techniques over a 3-month period by preparing and providing healthy home-cooked meals for participating household members. The intervention encourages reduced reliance on ultra-processed and restaurant foods and promotes improved dietary quality, with outcomes assessed through repeated measures of anthropometry, body composition, cardiovascular indicators, and dietary intake.
Sponsors
Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Emirati * Based in Abu Dhabi * Home cooked meals prepared by full-time home cooks who are certified in the ICCA Culinary Medicine course (post 4 weeks cooking training) * Certified home cooks are residing with participant during the training and intervention * Aged between 18 years and 60 years * BMI between 28-40 kg/m2 * Participant and cooks being able to provide informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Body weight exceeding 220 kilograms at the time of recruitment * Undergoing treatment for serious illnesses (active cancer), planned for surgery, interventional management, and immunomodulation * Undergone surgery within 3 months prior to study recruitment, including bariatric surgery * Enrolled in other lifestyle intervention programs
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weight Status (Body Weight) | Baseline (immediately after home cook certification and before intervention), Mid-intervention (6 weeks), and Post-intervention (3 months after intervention start). | Assessment of participant weight to determine changes associated with the culinary medicine intervention. Weight will be measured using the InBody Dial H30 portable device. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Waist Circumference | Baseline, 6 weeks, and 3 months. | Measurement of abdominal adiposity using a smart tape according to WHO protocol. |
| Body Fat Percentage | Baseline, 6 weeks, and 3 months. | Measurement of body fat percentage using the InBody Dial H30 portable device. |
| Blood Pressure | Baseline, 6 weeks, and 3 months. | Systolic and diastolic blood pressure measured using a Welch Allyn ProBP 2000 device after a standardized resting period. |
| Heart Rate | Baseline, 6 weeks, and 3 months. | Resting heart rate measured using the Welch Allyn ProBP 2000 device. |
| Compliance with Home-Cooked Meal Consumption | Every week for 3 months | Survey-based assessment of participant adherence to consuming meals prepared by the trained home cook |
| Frequency of home-cooked meal consumption. | every week for 3 months | Number of home-cooked meals consumed per week, assessed by participant survey. |
| Participant Experience and Satisfaction | End of intervention (3 months). | Survey evaluating participants' overall experience, satisfaction, acceptability, and perceived benefits of the culinary medicine program. |
Countries
United Arab Emirates
Contacts
CONTACTErik Koornneef, Ph.D
CONTACTYamna Azim
Outcome results
None listed