Fuel for Fun Process Evaluation Reveals Strong Implementation and Approval with Varied Parent Engagement

To describe the implementation and process characteristics of Fuel for Fun: Cooking with Kids Plus Parents and Play (FFF).

Mixed methods.

Elementary schools in 2 Northern Colorado school districts.

Fourth graders (aged 9-11 years), parents, school staff, and implementation researchers; measured over 2 consecutive years in 8 schools (851 students, 45 classrooms).

Social Cognitive and active learning theory-based classroom cooking with tasting lessons, active recess games, cooking with tasting food promotion during school lunch, family nights, and take-home intervention reinforcements. A 7-month program delivered by a trained intervention team.

Implementation measures (observations and debriefings) assessed context, reach, dose delivered, fidelity, and dose received; process measures (surveys) assessed student and parent perceptions and intervention participation.

Descriptive statistics for quantitative and themes for qualitative data.

Minor adjustments in program delivery plans were required to accommodate changes in school schedules and policies. Process measures demonstrated > 90% achievement of goals for nearly all child-centered activities. One-quarter of eligible families participated in evening events, with strong parent and student approval. Fifty out of 116 parents (43%) completing an online survey reported preparing ≥ 1 of 5 recipes with their child. Fifty-nine percent of eligible students completed >1 of 10 take-home activity sheets with their parents.

Engagement and commitment of the intervention team and school staff supported strong implementation. Participant responses were positive, but improvement in parent engagement requires investigation.