Cook Like A Boss: An effective co-created multidisciplinary approach to improving children's cooking competence

Area of Science:

• Childhood Nutrition
• Behavioral Science
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Cooking interventions show promise for influencing children's eating habits.
• Existing interventions often lack theoretical grounding, robust design, and validated assessment tools.
• Addressing these limitations is crucial for developing effective childhood nutrition programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a theory-driven, co-created children's cooking intervention using validated measures.
• To assess the impact of the 'Cook Like A Boss' program on children's perceived cooking competence.
• To provide a replicable model for future cooking interventions targeting children.

Main Methods:

• A one-week controlled 'Cook Like A Boss' cooking camp intervention for 32 children aged 10-12 years.
• Utilized the Cook-Ed model and underpinned by Social Learning and Experiential Learning theories.
• Employed co-creation for content development, ensuring age-appropriateness, and used pre/post measurements and process evaluations.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in perceived cooking competence post-intervention (P < 0.05).
• Significant difference in perceived cooking competence between intervention and control groups (P < 0.001).
• High intervention fidelity, dose received, and overwhelmingly positive participant feedback.

Conclusions:

• The 'Cook Like A Boss' intervention effectively enhanced children's cooking competence.
• A multidisciplinary, theory- and model-guided, co-created approach is effective for children's cooking programs.
• This intervention serves as a valuable template for future research and practice in childhood nutrition education.