Effectiveness of the Apprenti en Action School-based Culinary Program on 9-10-year-old Children's Food Literacy

NCT05278377 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2122-006
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In New Brunswick, Canada, only 53% of Kindergarten to Grade 5 students reported eating five or more vegetables and fruits per day in 2016-2017. Low intakes of vegetables and fruits are a marker for poor nutrition, which may impair the growth and cognitive development of children and adolescents and may put them at risk of developing certain non-communicable diseases earlier in life. It has been suggested that increasing children's food literacy may be an effective way of promoting healthier diets, including increasing vegetable and fruit intake among students. Since children spend most of their waking hours at school, this may be a key setting for promoting food literacy and healthy eating behaviors. Previous studies have found that culinary interventions that include taste testing and nutrition education may improve students' food literacy and vegetable and fruit consumption. Therefore, this quasi-experimental study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a school-based culinary program titled "Apprenti en Action" on primary school children's food literacy, breakfast, and vegetable and fruit consumption. Specifically, data were collected among Grade 5 students from ten francophone elementary schools, five of which received the "Apprenti en Action" program and five who did not. The "Apprenti en Action" program consisted of six, one-hour culinary workshops given once a week, at school, during school hours. Data on students' food literacy, breakfast, vegetable, and fruit consumption were collected via online questionnaires before and after the program. In addition to collecting quantitative data, qualitative data were collected from program participants and their parents to assess their perceptions of "Apprenti en Action".

Conditions

Fruit and Vegetable Intake; Eating Behavior

Keywords

School; Food skills; Cooking skills; Food literacy; Culinary program; Cooking program; Nutrition knowledge

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Change from baseline in vegetable and fruit consumption at the end of the program

  Students' consumption of vegetables and fruits was measured using two questions from the provincial New Brunswick Student Wellness Survey (New Brunswick Student Wellness Survey, 2016). These questions asked how many vegetables and fruits they had eaten the day before the survey. This was measured using a scale from 0 (None), to 7 (7 or more).

  Baseline and Endpoint (Week 6)

• Change from baseline in breakfast consumption at the end of the program

  Students' breakfast consumption was assessed based on one question from the provincial New Brunswick Student Wellness Survey (New Brunswick Student Wellness Survey, 2016). Students were asked to report how often they ate breakfast during the last school week. This question was scored from 0 (none) to 7 (7 days of the week).

  Baseline and Endpoint (Week 6)

• Change from baseline in cooking skills at the end of the program

  Cooking skills include all skills needed to prepare and cook foods, including cooking methods and food preparation techniques, and were measured using 18 questions. Among the questions, one was assessed with a five-point, downwards Likert-type scale (e.g. "Rate your ability to make the different breakfast foods"), and 17 questions were multiple-choice questions (e.g. "How long does it take to cook hard- and soft-boiled eggs?"). All cooking skills included in the questionnaire were skills that children were expected to have practiced during the program. The questionnaire was based on three previously-validated tools (Skeaff et al. 2020, Dean et al. 2021, Lavelle et al. 2017). Specifically, these questions measured children's ability to prepare breakfast, to use various cooking methods, to use kitchen equipment, to apply food safety practices, and to use various food preparation techniques. In total, a score ranging from 0 to 83 points was possible for this outcome variable.

  Baseline and Endpoint (Week 6)

• Change from baseline in nutrition knowledge at the end of the program

  Nine multiple-choice questions were used to assess children's nutrition knowledge, including their understanding of a balanced plate and food safety. These questions were inspired by those used in Skeaff et al.'s (2020) validated questionnaire. In total, a score of 0 to 9 points was possible for this outcome variable.

  Baseline and Endpoint (Week 6)

• Change from baseline in food skills at the end of the program

  Food skills represent the knowledge and skills required to choose and prepare food according to available resources and to cook balanced meals. They include meal planning, following a recipe, using leftovers, making and following a grocery list, reading nutrition labels, etc. Of the three questions used to measure food skills, two questions were multiple-choice questions (e.g. "The above picture is of French toast. What are three ingredients you need for French toast?") and one was a five-point downwards Likert-type scale ("From this list, indicate how good you are at performing these actions."). These questions were based on previously-validated questionnaires (Skeaff et al. 2020, Lavelle et al. 2017). In total, a score of 0 to 53 points was possible for this outcome variable.

  Baseline and Endpoint (Week 6)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Student perception of the program

  One week after the end of the program (Week 7)

• Parent perception of the program

  One week after the end of the program (Week 7)

Study Arms (2)

Apprenti en Action (intervention group)

"Apprenti en Action" consists of six, one-hour culinary workshops offered once a week during school hours.

Behavioral: "Apprenti en Action" program

Control group

Students in the control group do not receive the "Apprenti en Action" program.

Interventions

"Apprenti en Action" program BEHAVIORAL

The "Apprenti en Action" program aims to teach students how to read and follow recipes, prepare and cook various foods using various culinary techniques, and apply food safety practices. Students are also taught the basics of healthy food, nutrition, and cooking.

Apprenti en Action (intervention group)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants are Grade 5 students enrolled in one of the 10 recruited francophone elementary schools in the province of New Brunswick, Canada.

You may qualify if:

• Be enrolled in a Grade 5 or mixed Grade 4 and 5 class

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universite de Moncton: lead
• New Brunswick Innovation Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Universite de Moncton

Moncton, New Brunswick, E1A 3E9, Canada

Location

Related Publications (16)

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  PMID: 28865452 BACKGROUND

• Dean M, Issartel J, Benson T, McCloat A, Mooney E, McKernan C, Dunne L, Brennan SF, Moore SE, McCarthy D, Woodside JV, Lavelle F. CooC11 and CooC7: the development and validation of age appropriate children's perceived cooking competence measures. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2021 Jan 30;18(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12966-021-01089-9.

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  PMID: 26025086 BACKGROUND

• Brown, J. (2019). Nutrition through the life cycle (7e ed.). Cengage Learning.

  BACKGROUND

• Conseil de la santé du Nouveau-Brunswick. (2017). Sondage sur le mieux-être des élèves du Nouveau-Brunswick au niveau primaire de la maternelle à la 5e année (2016-2017) (p. 19). https://csnb.ca/sites/default/files/publications-attachments/sondage-mieux-etre-des-eleves-au-primaire-2016-2017-fr.pdf

  BACKGROUND

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• Skeaff, S., Govan, A., & Skeaff, M. (2020). A Practical Kitchen-Based Validation of the Food Skills Section of a Food Literacy Questionnaire for 9-10 Year Old Children.

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior

Study Officials

• Stephanie A Ward, PhD, RD

  Universite de Moncton

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2022
• First Posted: March 14, 2022
• Study Start: March 15, 2022
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2022
• Study Completion: June 30, 2022
• Last Updated: October 17, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-10

Locations

CA (1)