Descriptive study evaluates program effects on food choices and security at home, suggesting positive influences from culinary education.
Background Impacts of youth-focused culinary nutrition programs on home food environment and food security are not well known. Objective Objectives were: (1) assess the influence of a culinary nutrition program on home food environment and food security; and (2) determine whether program format influenced outcomes. Methods This descriptive study of a longitudinal observational cohort included survey data from caregivers whose children participated in a youth-focused or family-focused culinary nutrition program. To evaluate ordinal outcome changes, means were calculated at baseline and program exit for the entire sample and stratified by program design. Results 191 caregivers participated. Caregivers reported improvements in thinking about healthy food choices ( P = .03), using “Nutrition Facts” labels ( P < .001), and using MyPlate ( P < .001) to choose foods. Household food security also improved ( P = .03). Differences by program format were observed. Conclusions This study identifies important associations between participation in youth-focused culinary nutrition programs and the home food environment as well as household food security.
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Saxe-Custack et al. (2026) studied this question.
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