Research Article
Watching TV Cooking Programs: Effects on Actual Food Intake Among Children

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2019.09.016Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To test the effects of a cooking program on healthy food decisions.

Design

An experimental between-subjects design with 3 conditions: healthy, unhealthy, and control.

Setting

Class settings in 5 different schools.

Participants

One hundred twenty-five children between 10 and 12 years of age.

Interventions

Video clips of cooking program containing healthy foods versus cooking program containing unhealthy foods versus control program.

Main outcome measures

Healthy versus unhealthy food choice.

Analysis

Logistic regression analysis, with the control condition as a reference in the first contrast test and the unhealthy food condition as a reference in the second contrast, to examine effects on food choice between conditions.

Results

Children who watched the cooking program with healthy foods had a higher probability of selecting healthy food than children who watched the cooking program with unhealthy foods (P = .027), or with the control condition (P = .039).

Conclusions and Implications

These findings indicated a priming effect of the foods the children were exposed to, showing that nutrition education guided by reactivity theory can be promising. Cooking programs may affect the food choices of children and could be an effective method in combination with other methods to improve their dietary intake.

Section snippets

INTRODUCTION

To date, increasing attention is being paid to establish effective intervention techniques that can modify children's eating behavior toward a positive and beneficial outcome.1 Poor dietary habits during childhood and adolescence have multiple negative effects on several health and wellness indicators, such as achievement and maintenance of healthy weights, growth and development patterns, and dental health.2 Although most people are well aware of the negative consequences of an unhealthy

Study Design

The current study employed a 1-factor experimental between-subject design to test the effects of video clips (ie, cooking program containing healthy foods vs. energy-dense foods) versus a control program on food choice. Randomization took place on the classroom level. Conditions were randomized over classes within participating schools to avoid having more than 1 class of a particular school in the same condition. Food choice was measured by asking participants which food options they would

RESULTS

The distribution of the data was normal, and Levene's test showed no significant differences for the homogeneity of variance. Furthermore, MANOVA showed that there were no differences between conditions on gender, hunger, and liking of the television program (Table 1). However, the mean age differed significantly between conditions (F[2,120] = 10.43; P < .001). Children in the healthy (11.4 ± 0.58) and unhealthy (11.4 ± 0.55) food conditions were older than children in the control condition

DISCUSSION

The current study sought to determine whether children who watched a cooking program during school time with healthy foods would have a higher probability of choosing healthier foods in a subsequent food choice task compared with children who watch a cooking program with unhealthy food or are in the control condition. The main finding was that cooking programs could positively affect healthy food consumption of children.

The results showed that priming children with healthy foods are effective

IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

The current work indicates a need for future research to focus on the effectiveness of cooking programs to affect long-term food choices, as these strategies contain an essential educational component.

Another potential beneficial outcome is the transfer of knowledge around healthy nutrition from a school environment to a home environment through peers and teachers as agents of change. Nevertheless, existing evidence to support a relationship between cooking instructions and long-term cooking

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Radboud University Nijmegen for its support.

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    Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.

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