Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Nutrition

Major Professor

Sarah Colby

Committee Members

Melissa Hansen-Petrik, Katie Kavanagh

Abstract

Background: With increased obesity has come increased ready-made and fast food consumption and decreased homemade food consumption. Previous studies have shown associations between cooking self-efficacy (SE) and cooking frequency (CF) with dietary quality and weight status. Cooking interventions have shown positive associations with dietary outcomes, such as increased fruit and vegetable intake and decreased fast food consumption. There is still much unknown about SE and CF, especially among youth.

Objective: The objective of this project was to determine baseline SE and CF and the associations with dietary quality and body mass index (BMI) of youth enrolled in iCook 4-H.

Methods: Youth (n= 229) completed online surveys assessing demographics, SE, CF, and dietary quality. Anthropometrics were collected to calculate BMI-forage percentiles and weight categories. iCook-4H lesson leaders completed surveys assessing their perceptions of their class’s baseline cooking skills. Descriptive statistics were completed for SE, CF, weight categories, and demographics. Differences in SE and CF by sex, race, and participation in government assistance programs were determined through independent-sample t-tests. Pearson’s correlations were used to assess the association between dietary quality and SE and CF. Associations between CF and dietary quality were assessed further through two-way ANOVAs that included CF and sex and CF and race as independent variables. Associations between weight and SE and CF were assessed through ANOVAs. Differences between mean youth SE and lesson leader’s perceptions of their class’s overall skills were assessed through one-sample t-tests.

Results: Thirty-seven percent of youth were overweight or obese. Females reported significantly higher CF than males (p=0.042). Whites reported higher CF than non-whites, which approached significance (p=0.096). For each cooking skill, mean youth SE was significantly higher (p<0.001) than lesson leaders’ perception of the group’s skill. CF was positively associated with dietary quality (p<0.001), but BMI was not associated with dietary quality. SE was not associated with dietary quality or BMI.

Conclusion: Results indicate that CF was positively associated with dietary quality among youth. More research is needed to assess how different types of cooking relate to diet and weight. Interventions are needed to determine if increased CF leads to better diet outcomes.

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