Healthy helpers: using culinary lessons to improve children's culinary literacy and self-efficacy to cook.

Background: Children do not eat the recommended amounts of vegetables, and school-based nutrition education has not been found to impact this behavior. Cooking education is associated with improved children's culinary literacy (CL) and eating behaviors. This study investigated the impact of a culinary literacy (CL) curriculum on children's acceptance of vegetable-added (mushrooms) recipes, CL, self-efficacy to cook (SE), and willingness to try vegetables (WV). Methods: A convenience sample of 39 fourth and fifth graders were exposed to a six-lesson virtual CL curriculum that taught basic cooking skills and how to prepare six recipes, including three traditional recipes and the same recipes with added vegetables. Results: Children who participated in the CL curriculum accepted vegetables added to pizza pockets, but vegetables added to macaroni and cheese and fajitas negatively affected the acceptance of recipes. Children improved their CL and SE but did not show a significant change in their WV. Conclusion: Findings suggest that CL programs focusing on vegetables may drive factors associated with dietary behavior change, SE, and acceptance of vegetables. Future studies should consider CL as a potential method to improve vegetable intake in children in tandem with nutrition education or as a sole intervention. The study was limited by its small sample size, the virtual setting, and the use of mushrooms as the primary vegetable source. Future studies should be conducted with a larger sample size, in a traditional classroom setting, use a variety of vegetables, and collect qualitative data on the sensory characteristics affecting children's WV.

Faith in Fat: A Multisite Examination of University Students' Perceptions of Fat in the Diet.

Despite recent relaxation of restrictions on dietary fat consumption in dietary guidelines, there remains a collective "fear of fat". This study examined college students' perceptions of health among foods with no fat relative to foods with different types of fats (unsaturated and saturated). Utilizing a multisite approach, this study collected data from college students at six university dining halls throughout the United States. Data were available on 533 students. Participants were 52% male and consisted largely of first-year students (43%). Across three meal types, the no-fat preparation option was chosen 73% of the time, the unsaturated fat option was selected 23% of the time, and the saturated fat option was chosen 4% of the time. Students chose the no-fat option for all meal types 44% of the time. Findings suggest that college students lack knowledge regarding the vital role played by the type and amount of fats within a healthy diet. Nutrition education and food system reforms are needed to help consumers understand that type of fat is more important than total amount of fat. Efforts across various sectors can encourage incorporating, rather than avoiding, fats within healthy dietary patterns.

Increasing Vegetable Intake by Emphasizing Tasty and Enjoyable Attributes: A Randomized Controlled Multisite Intervention for Taste-Focused Labeling.

Healthy food labels tout health benefits, yet most people prioritize tastiness in the moment of food choice. In a preregistered intervention, we tested whether taste-focused labels compared with health-focused labels increased vegetable intake at five university dining halls throughout the United States. Across 137,842 diner decisions, 185 days, and 24 vegetable types, taste-focused labels increased vegetable selection by 29% compared with health-focused labels and by 14% compared with basic labels. Vegetable consumption also increased. Supplementary studies further probed the mediators, moderators, and boundaries of these effects. Increased expectations of a positive taste experience mediated the effect of taste-focused labels on vegetable selection. Moderation tests revealed greater effects in settings that served tastier vegetable recipes. Taste-focused labels outperformed labels that merely contained positive words, fancy words, or lists of ingredients. Together, these studies show that emphasizing tasty and enjoyable attributes increases vegetable intake in real-world settings in which vegetables compete with less healthy options.

Tasting with your eyes: Sensory description substitutes for portion size.

A field study conducted in a diner explored whether a sensory rich description of an indulgent dessert prompts consumers to be willing to pay just as much for a small serving as for a large serving. Diner customers (N = 809) who ordered an entrée received a free piece of chocolate cake if they filled out a questionnaire indicating the amount of cake they ate, their willingness to pay (WTP) for the cake, their fullness after eating, and other measures. A between-subjects 2 × 3 design varied the serving size of the cake (6 oz. vs. 12 oz.) and the description of the cake (no description control, nutrition description, or sensory description). Self-reported amount eaten showed a smaller portion size effect in the nutrition description condition than in the other two conditions. Of primary interest, relative to the other conditions, the sensory description caused customers to be willing to pay as much for the small piece as for the large piece and to feel almost as full after eating from the small piece as from the large piece. These results indicate that a sensory rich description makes customers' evaluations of an indulgent dessert less sensitive to serving size. As a result, sensory descriptions can be used to make customers just as content with a small dessert as they would be with a large dessert.

Targeted Calorie Message Promotes Healthy Beverage Consumption Better than Charity Incentive.

OBJECTIVE: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is cited as a major contributor to the U.S. obesity epidemic. The objective of this paper was to leverage insights from behavioral economics to examine whether nudges would entice college students to save meal calories by choosing water over SSBs. METHODS: Three message-based nudge interventions, with washout periods between, were used during the 7-week study. Calorie savings (self-interest), charity (prosocial), or charity-plus-calorie message posters were displayed in a college-based food franchise. Multilevel logistic regressions compared the proportions of students choosing water during three experimental conditions. This study assessed whether the frequency of dining establishment visits over the study period moderated effects of the experimental conditions on beverage choices. Multiple data points from the same customer were treated as repeated measures. RESULTS: A total of 2,393 unique students purchased 6,730 meals. Posters displaying calorie information increased water choice relative to washout periods, while the poster without calorie information (charity only) had no effect. Controlling for fixed effects produced the same results. The calorie message poster influenced less frequent diners more than frequent diners. CONCLUSIONS: Food-service operations can nudge college students to substitute water for SSBs with a simple calorie-based message to save hundreds of calories per meal.

Put the healthy item first: Order of ingredient listing influences consumer selection.

This study examined effects of an order form intervention on choice of healthy ingredients among college students ordering submarine sandwiches (subs). Over eight weekly sub-nights, college students submitted 9765 orders. The order form format was manipulated in one condition making the healthier selections more salient. Main outcome measures were selection of ingredients. Multi-level logistic regression, chi square, and analysis of variance were used to examine the effect of experimental conditions on selection of ingredients. The health-salient form increased selection of healthier and decreased selection of unhealthy ingredients. The manipulation increased fiber, decreased sodium, but did not impact calorie/fat levels of the subs served.

Development and evaluation of a university campus-based food safety media campaign for young adults.

Food safety information campaigns are more likely to be most effective if the messages are tailored to the needs of a specific audience. Designing effective campaigns involves careful study of the target population and working with them using a community-based participatory research model. Thus, the development of the campaign materials for a university campus-based food safety media campaign for young adults followed intense efforts of working with the target audience to gather the baseline data needed to characterize this audience, to identify the most salient messages for college students, and to create materials and events that would resonate with them. This campaign was implemented and evaluated on eight university campuses in the United States. The results indicate that the campaign significantly increased self-ratings of food safety knowledge and skill, actual food safety knowledge, food safety self-efficacy, stage of change for safe food handling, and reported hand washing behaviors of a geographically and racially diverse group of college students. The positive study outcomes support the value of engaging in these research and development efforts and reflect the usefulness of the audience-specific materials and activities developed for the campaign. The findings also demonstrate the versatility and utility of the materials on different campuses. Developing health media campaigns specifically for unique populations is key to ensuring health messages reach the target audience and, even more importantly, appeal to them. The detailed overview of the development of a food safety media campaign aimed at young adults presented in this article illustrates how health professionals can work with their target population to develop a focused, effective health promotion campaign.

Energy metabolism and body composition in long-term recovery from anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if energy metabolism and body composition differ between women recovered from anorexia nervosa for 2 or more years (RAN) and control (C) women. METHOD: Using a cross-sectional design, 16 RAN and 18 C women were studied. Respiratory quotient (RQ) and resting energy expenditure (REE) were measured using indirect calorimetry and body composition using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: The REE between RAN and C women was not significantly different, even when adjusted for body composition. However, RAN women had a higher rate of fat oxidation (p = .015), controlling for diet and body composition. There were no significant differences between the groups for body composition, percent body fat, or percent truncal fat mass. DISCUSSION: Although RAN women have a higher rate of fat oxidation, there were no significant differences in REE or body composition when compared with C women.

Changes in body weight and fat mass of men and women in the first year of college: A study of the "freshman 15".

Students entering their first year of college are faced with many stresses and changes, including changes in eating and exercise behavior. A common but often undocumented myth among college students is that there is a high risk of gaining 15 pounds of weight during freshman year. The objective of this study was to measure changes in body weight and percentage of body fat among first-year college students. Using a digital scale with bio-electrical impedance, the authors measured height, weight, and percentage of body fat for a sample of students who volunteered to be weighed during a health assessment in the university dining halls. The authors sent e-mails inviting those same students to complete a second measurement in February of the academic year. Sixty-seven of the 217 students who volunteered for the health assessment agreed to undergo a second set of measurements in the spring. The mean change in body weight was 2.86 pounds (1.3 kg, SD = 4.0 kg), and the mean change in percentage of body fat was 0.7% (SD = 4.0%). For those students who gained weight only, the mean increase in body weight (as measured by body mass index, weight divided by height in kg/m2) was 6.82 pounds (3.1 +/- 2.4 kg) and percentage of body fat was 0.9 +/- 3.8%. The authors found that the first year of college is a period in which weight and fat gain may occur. The exact causes behind these changes are unclear and warrant further research to plan or improve intervention and prevention.