Involving children in the cooking process has been proven to increase vegetable preferences and consumption, and healthy eating among youth. (Cunningham-Sabo, 2013)

In efforts to increase more healthful eating consumption in Floyd County youth, the Floyd County Family & Consumer Science Agent collaborated with a local Day Care, Bright Beginnings for a “Mommy and Me” hands-on cooking program in March 2023. This was a one-time program that consisted of knife skills, nutrition education, cooking skills, instruction following, and motor skills.

This program targeted youth 3 to 5 years of age. The youth prepared homemade pizzas with made from scratch dough and fruit pizzas. The youth with assistance from the parents measured out their own ingredients, mixed the ingredients, practiced chopping skills using child safe knives, and learned about healthy eating. Once all of the recipes were prepared, the children and parents sampled what they had prepared.

A total of 18 youth and 23 adults attended the program. Verbal surveys from the program indicated that 100 percent of the participants were more confident in preparing food independently and tried what they had prepared that day. After the program, parents stated that their child was more involved with cooking at home and gained more independence from this program. Another program with this daycare is set for July 2023.

Cunningham-Sabo L, Lohse B. Cooking with Kids positively affects fourth graders' vegetable preferences and attitudes and self-efficacy for food and  cooking. Child Obes. 2013 Dec;9(6):549-56. doi: 10.1089/chi.2013.0076. PMID: 24320723; PMCID: PMC3868269.