A Review of Experiential School-Based Culinary Interventions for 5-12-Year-Old Children.

Cooking is an essential skill and the acquisition of cooking skills at an early age is associated with higher diet quality. This review aimed to describe the characteristics of school-based experiential culinary interventions and to determine the value of these to child (5-12 years) health outcomes. Interventions were eligible for inclusion if they took place in school during school hours, included ≥3 classes, and had a control group. Interventions published up to May 2021 were included. The databases searched were PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE, and the grey literature was searched for published reports. The search strategy yielded 7222 articles. After screening, five published studies remained for analysis. Four studies targeted children aged 7-11 years, and one targeted children aged 5-12 years. The interventions included food tasting, food gardening, and/or nutrition education alongside experiential cooking opportunities. Improvements were evident in self-reported attitudes toward vegetables, fruits, and cooking, and two studies reported small objective increases in vegetable intake. School-based experiential cookery interventions have the potential to positively impact health-related aspects of the relationship children develop with food. However, a greater number of long-term methodologically rigorous interventions are needed to definitively quantify the benefits of such interventions.

An evaluation of factors which can affect the implementation of a health promotion programme under the Schools for Health in Europe framework.

The Health Promoting Schools concept helps schools to promote health in a sustainable and long-term fashion. However, developing the capacity to promote health in this way can be challenging when a busy teaching curriculum must be fulfilled. This study aimed to identify factors which affect the acceptability of health promotion programmes to the everyday school environment. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were audio-taped with primary school teachers in one Irish county and transcribed verbatim. The resulting transcripts were analysed using content analysis. Thirty-one teachers were interviewed. The factors which may adversely affect the acceptability of health promotion programmes include the: attitude of teachers towards an additional extra-curricular workload; lack of confidence amongst teachers to lead health promotion; and different organisational cultures between schools. When health promotion programmes under the Health Promoting Schools concept are being implemented, it's important to consider: the readiness for change amongst teachers; the resources available to increase staff capacity to promote health; and the ability of a programme to adapt to the different organisational cultures between schools.

A qualitative evaluation of a healthy cookery course in Ireland designed for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disability.

Adults with an intellectual disability have poorer diets than the general adult population. The Able 2 Cook 4 Health cookery course aims to improve the diets of adults with mild to moderate intellectual disability. This study aims to evaluate the course by obtaining the views of course participants and the views of managers hosting the course. Thirty course participants took part in focus groups. Five managers hosting the course participated in a semi-structured interview. Positive features of the course included the group cooking, social interaction and course instructors. Collaboration between centres hosting the course and participants' home environment is needed to help transfer the skills learned to all home settings. The Able 2 Cook 4 Health cookery course provided participants with an important social outlet to learn essential occupational skills. These findings could particularly influence the diets of adults with an intellectual disability moving into independent living.