A three-hour hands-on culinary medicine class increased children's confidence in choosing healthy food options from a pre-class mean of 3.76 to a post-class mean of 4.06 on a 5-point scale.
Does a hands-on culinary medicine intervention improve cooking confidence and healthy eating beliefs in elementary school-aged children?
A hands-on culinary medicine intervention improved cooking interest, confidence, and perceived health benefits among elementary school children, potentially supporting early diabetes prevention.
Absolute Event Rate: 4.06% vs 3.76%
Introduction and Objective: Early-life nutrition knowledge, food confidence, and positive emotional relationships with healthy eating are key drivers of long-term cardiometabolic health, including risk for type 2 diabetes. The Culinary Medicine Initiative (CMI) is a college student-led community program that provides free, hands-on cooking and STEM-based nutrition education, spanning topics from diabetes to the gut microbiome, to youth across New Orleans, building practical skills and health self-efficacy. This pilot study aimed to evaluate changes in cooking confidence, food-related attitudes, and perceived health impact among elementary school-aged children participating in a CMI class. Methods: The three-hour session included an educational lecture led by trained college students followed by a hands-on cooking activity. In fall 2025, seventeen children (mean age 8.88 years) completed pre- and post-class surveys using Likert-scale items (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) and multiple-choice questions assessing cooking interest, confidence, healthy eating beliefs, and emotional responses to food. Results: Post-class, participants reported increased interest in cooking (mean 4.47), greater confidence in cooking or helping in the kitchen (4.24), and strong agreement that cooking at home can be fun and healthy (4.29). Confidence in choosing healthy food options increased from pre-class (3.76) to post-class (4.06). Conclusion: CMI’s hands-on culinary medicine intervention was associated with improvements in cooking interest, confidence, and perceived health benefits among children. These outcomes reflect foundational behaviors linked to diabetes prevention and suggest that near-peer, hands-on education and early, community-based culinary programs may support healthier dietary patterns and cardiometabolic health in diverse community settings. Disclosure M. Yang: None. T. Edwards: None.
YANG et al. (Fri,) conducted a other in Healthy eating / Diabetes prevention (n=17). Culinary Medicine Initiative (CMI) class vs. Pre-class baseline was evaluated on Confidence in choosing healthy food options (1-5 Likert scale). A three-hour hands-on culinary medicine class increased children's confidence in choosing healthy food options from a pre-class mean of 3.76 to a post-class mean of 4.06 on a 5-point scale.