Online cooking education may improve perceived cooking and motor competencies in children

1. In this prospective cohort study, participation in an online cooking camp was associated with increased perception of cooking competence, movement competence, and well-being in children aged 9-12 years old.

2. The predictors of post-intervention perceived cooking competence included age, well-being, and perceived cooking and movement competence prior to the intervention.

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Physical inactivity and poor dietary intake in children have worsened over the past few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased perceived cooking competence has been thought to positively influence diet quality and mental wellbeing. However, it is unknown what forms of intervention are most effective in improving cooking engagement in children. This study assessed the effectiveness of an online cooking camp, called ‘Cook Like a Boss’, on well-being and various perceived competencies in children.

This prospective cohort study included 210 children aged 9-12 years old from Ireland. Participants were included if they were within the stated age-range and had not started second level school. Siblings within the same household were excluded. The intervention was a virtual camp that consisted of 5 daily videos designed to introduce children to a range of food and skills. The primary outcome was perceived cooking competence measured by the CooC11 survey, movement competence measured by a previously validated 12-item scale, and well-being measured by Stirling Children’s Well-being scale.

The results demonstrated an improvement in perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and well-being following the program. In addition, pre-intervention perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence, well-being, and age were all significant predictors of perceived cooking competence following the intervention. However, this study was limited by the lack of a control group which limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the findings. Nonetheless, this study highlighted a novel strategy for improving cooking competencies and diet quality in children.

Click to read the study in International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Image: PD

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