Abstract Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Asian community. In Philadelphia, Chinese immigrants constitute the largest Asian subgroup. While many are aware of cancer prevention as a concept, they often lack the knowledge or tools to adopt preventive behaviors in daily life. To address this gap, the Chinese Wellness Culinary Circle (CWCC), a culturally tailored culinary medicine program, was developed for the local Chinese community. The primary aim of this pilot feasibility study was to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Secondary aims included exploring changes in cancer-preventive dietary behaviors, self-efficacy, and perceived nutrition-related barriers. Methods: The CWCC program was delivered in person from April to July 2025 and included six 2-hour sessions. Each session began with a 30-40 minute nutrition education segment focused on cancer-preventive properties of food commonly used in Chinese cuisine, followed by a culturally relevant hands-on cooking activity and group discussion. Topics included the gut-brain-body connection, immune system health, antioxidants and cancer-fighting foods, hypertension, and the psychological effects of food. Participants received bilingual materials and culturally tailored recipes. Engagement strategies included pre-session reminders and post-session emails with slides. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed using specific progression criteria (e.g., recruitment, retention, assessment feasibility, and intervention acceptability) to determine whether the study procedures are practicable and whether to proceed to a larger trial. Acceptability was evaluated through post-session surveys capturing satisfaction and likelihood of applying learned practices. Baseline and post-program surveys were used to measure changes in knowledge, dietary behaviors, and self-efficacy. Results: At baseline 14 participants (mean age: 54 years; range 32-80) enrolled. Most identified as female (79%) and Asian (85%), with 79% having resided in the US for more than 25 years. 71% of participants reported ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ confident in choosing and cooking affordable healthy food. All participants cooked at home in the past week, though most consumed limited fruits (N=10) and vegetables (N=9). Common barriers included concerns about produce spoilage and low satiety. Key participant interests included improving nutrition knowledge, cooking skills, and chronic disease prevention/management. Final feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy data will be collected and reported prior to the conference. Conclusions: Preliminary findings suggest that CWCC is a feasible and acceptable community-based program; integrating cultural values, hands-on learning, and bilingual education may improve engagement and reduce nutrition-related disparities among Chinese community. Future studies should evaluate long-term dietary changes and clinical outcomes in larger samples. Citation Format: Hanyu Yang, Yawei Song, Brandy-Joe Milliron, Munjireen Sifat. Chinese wellness culinary circle: A feasibility study of a culturally tailored cancer prevention program abstract. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B049.
Yang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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