Advanced Cooking Education Feasibility Study

The Advanced Cooking Education (ACE) 4-H After School Club: A Feasibility Study

The aim of this study is to look at outcomes related to diet and nutrition, mindfulness, and cooking skills amongst middle school students who participated in a 12-week 4-H after school program called the Advanced Cooking Education Program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Adolescent Behavior; Nutrition, Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Advanced Cooking Education

Detailed Description

Participants are all assigned to the Advanced Cooking Education Program. Data collection was done before and after the program. The investigators hypothesize that after the program, adolescents' diet quality, cooking-related skills, stress levels will be improved compared to prior of the program.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 81
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Ithaca, New York, United States, 14853
      • Cornell University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 7th and 8th grade students attending Title I funded schools in New York City
• Caregivers of 7th and 8th grade students attending Title I funded schools in New York City

Exclusion Criteria:

• Do not speak/understand English

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Intervention; The ACE Program is a culturally inclusive, 4-H after school club where youth meet once a week for 12 weeks virtually. They also receive groceries to make a meal 1 day a week.

Behavioral: Advanced Cooking Education; Participants attend the ACE Program for 12 weeks after school. On one assigned day of the week, participants attend ACE virtually. The session will begin with mindfulness exercises (15 minutes), professional development session (50 minutes), nutrition education lesson (20 minutes), and reflection period to talk about their experience in cooking lessons (25 minutes). On any day during the week, the students will make a dish using groceries they received (1 hour).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in diet quality, measured by the Healthy Eating Index Scores	Scores are calculated from three 24-hour diet records, range from 0-100. Higher score reflects higher alignment between one's diet and recommendations from Dietary Guidelines for Americans	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in body mass index	Height will be measured using stadiometer to nearest decimal point in cm. Weight measured using scale to nearest decimal in kg. Body mass index calculated using kg/m^2.	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in body fat percentage	Measured using a scale to nearest decimal	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in waist circumference	Measured using a waist circumference tape to the nearest decimal in cm.	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in dermal carotenoids level	Measured using the Veggie Meter device, range from 0-800. Higher score acts as proxy for increased fruits and vegetables consumption.	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in household food security	Short form food security survey module by the USDA	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in child food security	Child version of food security survey module by the USDA	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in culinary skills	iCook program youth culinary skill survey with 5-point likert scale questions with higher scores indicate higher skill level (better outcome). Min=7, Max=35	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in culinary attitudes	Cooking with kids survey with 5-point likert scale questions with higher scores indicate more positive attitude (better outcome). Min=6, Max=30	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in culinary self-efficacy	iCook program youth culinary self-efficacy survey with 5-point likert scale questions with higher scores indicate higher self-efficacy (better outcome). Min=6, Max=30.	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in perceived stress	Used the Cohen perceived stress scale. Higher scores mean increased stress (worse outcome). Min=0, Max=40	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in food neophobia	FNTT10 survey with 5-point likert scale questions, higher scores mean less neophobia (better outcome). Min=10, Max=50.	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in sense of purpose	Used the Clarement Purpose Scale survey questions, higher scores mean higher sense of purpose (better outcome). Min=12, Max=60	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in social and emotional competency	Used the SEC survey by CASEL, higher scores mean higher competence (better outcome). Min=17, Max= 68	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]
Change in family mealtime beliefs	Calculated based on the Fulkerson family mealtime survey. A total of 9 questions that are scored independently. Each: Min=1, Max=4. Higher scores indicate better family mealtime practices (better outcome).	Baseline, 12 weeks [endpoint]

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cornell University
• Collaborators: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tashara M Leak, PhD RD, Cornell University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 13, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 19, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 26, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 8, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2023
• First Posted (Estimated): June 16, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): June 19, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2023
• Last Verified: June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescents; Nutrition intervention; Culinary program
• Other Study ID Numbers: 0009007

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No