Beyond Ramen: Investigating Methods to Improve Food Agency among College Students

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• College students often lack cooking skills, impacting their diet quality and health.
• Low food agency (planning, procuring, preparing food) contributes to reliance on convenience foods.
• Interventions are needed to improve student dietary habits and cooking frequency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of cooking classes and meal kits on college students' food agency.
• To evaluate the effect of these interventions on diet quality and at-home cooking frequency.
• To explore strategies for enhancing college student nutrition and self-sufficiency in food preparation.

Main Methods:

• A randomized intervention study involving cooking classes and/or home-delivered meal kits.
• Participants were assigned to four conditions: cooking classes, meal kits, both, or no intervention.
• Food agency, diet quality, and cooking frequency were measured before and after interventions.

Main Results:

• Cooking classes significantly improved food agency immediately post-intervention.
• Meal kits showed a less pronounced improvement in food agency compared to cooking classes.
• Neither intervention consistently improved diet quality or increased routine cooking frequency.

Conclusions:

• Active cooking classes show promise for enhancing college students' food agency.
• Further research is required to link improved food agency to better diet quality and increased cooking.
• Targeted interventions may be necessary to address the multifaceted challenges of student nutrition.