Cooking as a Health Behavior in College Students

Keywords

• food agency
• cooking

Lead sponsor

University of Vermont is the lead sponsor of 215 studies on the registry; 28 are open to participants now.

Of its 16 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (56%) have results posted.

Study arms

• Experimental
  Active Cooking +meal kits and recipes

  Participants will attend a weekly 2-hour cooking class to learn how to prepare meals. Participants cook and sample the meal at the end of class and the chef will walk them through a sensory exercise. At the end of each class, participants will be provided with the recipe for the next class and asked to create a timeline for the various steps of preparation. Participants will bring this timeline to class and discuss as a group before preparing the meal. Following 6 weeks of cooking classes, participants will receive 6 weeks of home-delivered meal kits. Following 6 weeks of meal kits, participants will received 6 weeks of recipes. Both the meal kits and recipes will accommodate major dietary needs (vegan, gluten-free, etc.)

  Behavioral: Active Cooking Classes · Behavioral: Meal Kits · Behavioral: Recipes

• Active comparator
  Active cooking only

  Participants will attend a weekly 2-hour cooking class to learn how to prepare meals. Participants cook and sample the meal at the end of class and the chef will walk them through a sensory exercise. At the end of each class, participants will be provided with the recipe for the next class and asked to create a timeline for the various steps of preparation. Participants will bring this timeline to class and discuss as a group before preparing the meal. Unlike the previous arm, no further instruction will be given once cooking classes end.

  Behavioral: Active Cooking Classes

• Active comparator
  Meal Kits only

  Participants will receive weekly meal kit deliveries for 6 weeks. Following 6 weeks of meal kit deliveries, students will receive emails at the beginning of each week providing them with 5 healthy recipes.

  Behavioral: Meal Kits · Behavioral: Recipes

• No intervention
  Control

  Participants will receive no interventions.

Interventions

• BehavioralActive Cooking Classes

  6 cooking classes will be held every week for 6 consecutive weeks. The lessons are patterned after Dr. Amy Trubek's cooking pedagogy and will be tailored for those cooking for themselves for the first time. Classes begin with a brief lecture on the day's topic. Students will work in teams of 2 in the foods lab to actively practice skills and cook a meal. Students receive recipes and information sheets that cover pantry supplies, grocery lists, knife skills and cooking equipment. All students attend a 2 hour kitchen intensive demonstration as an orientation.

• BehavioralMeal Kits

  Students receive 6 weeks of home delivered meal kits. Meal kits include ingredients and detailed instructions for 3 meals, which each serve two people. Students may select meals from a list of 18 options that include vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options.

• BehavioralRecipes

  Students are emailed a set of recipes once a week for 6 weeks. Recipes include options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Recipe sets include vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. This intervention was cancelled by COVID-related disruptions and did not take place.

Primary outcomes

1. Diet Quality at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   Difference in diet quality change between groups from baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2. Measured by Healthy Eating Index scores. The HEI includes 13 components that capture recommendations of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. There are two groupings of components: 1. Adequacy components are encouraged. Higher scores reflect higher intakes. 2. Moderation components should be limited. Higher scores reflect lower intakes. A higher total HEI score reflects higher diet quality as defined by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Components are weighted equally and assigned a score of either 5 or 10. Scores as summed to determine total score. Score range is 0 - 100. Adequacy Components: Total Fruits 5 Whole Fruits 5 Total vegetables 5 Greens and beans 5 Whole grains 10 Dairy 10 Total protein foods 5 Seafood and plant proteins 5 Fatty acids 10 Moderation Components: Refined grains 10 Sodium 10 Added sugars 10 Saturated fats 10

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

Secondary outcomes

1. Cooking and Food Practices at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   Cooking and Food Practices score at baseline and change at phase 1 and phase 2, will be measured by The Cooking and Food Provisioning Action Scale (CAFPAS) measures food preparation skills and capacities. The CAFPAS contains 28 items administered with a 7-point bipolar Likert scale. There are three subscales: Self-Efficacy (measures whether an individual thinks their cooking ability and skills are adequate), Attitude (measures an individual's affective stance towards food, cooking and provisioning in different areas), and Structure (measures the ways in which external factors can either hinder or support an individual's cooking and provisioning actions). Subscales are scored by coding responses from 1-7, reversing them as necessary, summing the items and dividing by the standard deviation of the sample population's scores on the subscale. The total CAFPAS score is the sum of the three subscales. The total score range is 3-196. A higher score is associated with improvement.

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

2. Stress Level at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   The Perceived Stress Scale is a reliable and valid measure of perceived stress in adults including college students. Ten questions assess how often one perceives various forms of stress such as feeling unable to control important events, being upset by something unexpected, and feeling nervous. Individual scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress. Scores ranging from 0-13 would be considered low stress. Scores ranging from 14-26 would be considered moderate stress. Scores ranging from 27-40 would be considered high perceived stress

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

3. Breakfast Cooking Frequency at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   Breakfast cooking frequency was assessed at baseline and following each 6 week study phase using the cooking frequency subscale from the Cooking Perceptions/Attitudes/Confidence/Behaviors Survey. The scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 7 meals cooked during a one week period.

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

4. Lunch Cooking Frequency at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   Lunch cooking frequency was assessed at baseline and following each 6 week study phase using the cooking frequency subscale from the Cooking Perceptions/Attitudes/Confidence/Behaviors Survey. The scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 7 meals cooked during a one week period.

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

5. Dinner Cooking Frequency at Baseline and Change From Baseline

   Dinner cooking frequency was assessed at baseline and following each 6 week study phase using the cooking frequency subscale from the Cooking Perceptions/Attitudes/Confidence/Behaviors Survey. The scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 7 meals cooked during a one week period.

   Time frame: Baseline, end of phase 1, and end of phase 2, up to 12 weeks

Baseline characteristics

Study documents

• Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Apr 14, 2020
• Informed consent form · Oct 4, 2019

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.