Effects of a Culinary Boot Camp intervention on food/nutrition aptitudes and dietary intake of college students

Abstract

Objective: College is characterized by transition, students shifting from dependence to independence in numerous roles/responsibilities. Deficiencies in food/nutrition aptitudes and dietary intake exist, evidenced by declining physical well-being and poor eating patterns/practices within the population. Studies examining interventions to improve food/nutrition aptitudes and dietary intake among college students are limited. Participants/methods: A nutrition education program, Culinary Boot Camp (CBC), was developed and delivered to college students at a land-grant university. Online surveys assessed food/nutrition aptitudes and dietary intake pre-/post-/follow-up intervention. Results: Of 86 CBC participants, 71 pre-, 46 post-, and 20 follow-up surveys were completed. Several food/nutrition aptitudes improved (p ≤ 0.05), with greatest improvements in cooking skills/attitudes and healthy eating/grocery shopping self-efficacy (p < 0.01). Additionally, dietary intake of various micronutrients (vitamin C, magnesium, potassium) and fiber increased with statistical significance (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Results suggest CBC is an effective nutrition education program to improve food/nutrition aptitudes and dietary intake amomg college students.

Keywords:

• College students
• food/nutrition intervention
• cooking
• grocery shopping
• eating competence

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Culinary Food Science Club, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Human Sciences, Dining, Employee Wellness, and Student Wellness at Iowa State University for their continued support of Culinary Boot Camp.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Iowa State University.

Funding

No direct financial contributions were provided for purposes of this study. However, several generous commodity groups provided some contributions to participants (groceries per cooking experiences, cooking resources and tools, etc.). These commodity groups included: HyVee, MidWest Dairy, the Soyfoods Council, Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Egg Council, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Turkey Federation, Iowa Department of Agriculture. Additional support (volunteers, resources, tools, etc.) was received from Iowa State University Departments of Dining and Employee Wellness and Student Wellness and Food Science Human Nutrition. Again, no direct financial contributions were provided from these commodity groups and support.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.