An interactive after-school nutrition and culinary education program for primary school students: The evaluation and efficacy of changing food-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a 10-week afterschool nutrition and culinary education program in changing the culinary and nutritional behaviour, attitudes and knowledge of its 9-11-year-old participants, as assessed by parents and children.  Methods: Retrospective matched-pairs analysis of secondary pre-post survey data collected by Boîte à Lunch (BàL). Children (n=165-197; grades 4 and 5) and parents (n=53-57) who signed-up for the BàL workshops. The program was comprised of ten-week (2 hours/week) bilingual (French and English) themed sessions led by trained educators with focus on culinary skill development, nutrition education and hands-on cooking. Secondary objectives include: team-work, kitchen hygiene, compost, understanding of food systems. Workshops were held in community centres and schools in Montreal, Canada. Changes were analyzed using the expanded exact McNemar-Bowker test with a Bonferroni-adjusted significance level of 0.001631. Results: Culinary skill and knowledge improved based on all 23 measures (all p<0.001631). Of the six measures assessed for change in attitude, three were significantly improved. Of the two items used to asses a change of behaviour, one was significantly improved. 2 stand-alone post-workshop questions suggest a positive trend for improvements in each. Conclusion: Knowledge and culinary skill of youth can be improved through nutrition education and hands-on cooking. Culinary and nutritional attitudes and behaviours may be improved; further research is needed.