Application of Behavioral Theory in Cooking Interventions Targeting Dietary Intake in Adults: A Systematic Review

Studies of cooking interventions often state that behavioral theory was used to inform intervention development. However, to understand why interventions impact behavior change, it is crucial to understand how theory is used in the development, evaluation, and interpretation of interventions.

We conducted a systematic review by searching PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL for articles published between January, 2000 and March, 2023.

We considered studies involving adults aged > 18 years.

Dietary intake was the primary outcome, and cooking behavior was the secondary outcome.

We used the Theory Coding Scheme to assess theory use. We used descriptive statistics to summarize study characteristics and outcomes of interest.

We identified 7,846 unique articles; 31 met the inclusion criteria. On average, studies met less than 6 of 17 criteria from the Theory Coding Scheme. The majority (65%) of interventions had a positive impact on at least 1 measure of dietary intake. However, more than half (55%) measured cooking behavior and only 41% of these reported a positive impact on cooking behavior.

These findings support the need for future studies to link intervention techniques with theoretical constructs and evaluate whether changes in constructs mediate improvements in dietary intake and cooking behavior.