According to the Center for Disease Control, 19.7% of children (2-19) in the United States from 2017-2020 are classified as obese. In the 2020-2021 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH 2020 21: Weight status of the child based on Body Mass Index for age, Kentucky (childhealthdata.org)), 25.5% of children (10-17) in Kentucky are obese (>95^th percentile for weight). Obesity is considered a risk factor for health conditions including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems such as asthma and sleep apnea, and joint problems. In McCreary County’s most recent Community Needs Assessment in 2019, “Fewer Chronic disease (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc)” and “More youth life skills training” were identified as a major areas of concern for McCreary County residents. Recent research has indicated that teaching cooking skills to children encourages healthier food choices, which can lower obesity rates. In an effort to address this issue and provide some life skills training to youth, in the summer of 2022 the McCreary County Family Consumer Science Agent/4H Youth Development Agent along with the McCreary County Agriculture and Natural Resource/4-H Youth Development Agent presented SuperStar Chef Camp program at the McCreary County Extension office. This three day camp for students ages 9-12 is designed to teach kitchen safety, food safety, nutrition concepts, and physical activity. In addition, the students practiced food preparation skills with supervision.

Seven students (4 females and 3 males) completed the pretest and posttest to examine the impact of the program on students’ nutrition knowledge and cooking self-efficacy. Overall, pre/post comparisons of participant responses to the assessment instrument showed the program enhanced partcipants’ understanding of the nutrition concepts covered in the program. The average total score on the test increased from 56% in the pretest to 70.4% in the posttest (out of a maximum of 13).

The pre/posttest also included seven items that measured participants’ cooking self-efficacy, and analysis showed that participants’ total cooking self-efficacy score increased from 30.4 in the pretest to 31.0 in the posttest (out of a maximum of 36). Additionally, the posttest included a self-assessment of participants’ intention to make healthy nutrition choices and be more physically active after participation in the SSC program. All of the respondents (100%) reported they can identify healthy foods, plan to drink more water daily, and plan to be more physically active. 85.7% of respondents stated they plan to eat more fruits, plan to eat more vegetables, and try new foods. 71.4% of respondents indicated they intend to drink less soda.