Twenty-two Campbell County Middle School after-school program students, with the help of Nutrition Education Program Assistant of the Campbell County Cooperative Extension, learned new cooking skills and improved their healthy choices after completing the Teen Cuisine program. Some of the students have already spent some time in their kitchens at home, helping parents or caregivers with some of the basic steps in the cooking process. However, a number of the students have yet had the opportunity to practice some of the skills that they can take home and use for a lifetime. According to the CDC, 18% of youth in Kentucky have obesity, which later leads to an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

The Teen Cuisine nutrition series included twelve 1-hour sessions where students got hands-on experience with cooking a variety of dishes including homemade pancakes, hummus, colorful quesadillas, salsa, and more. All recipes had a healthy twist and accompanied a nutrition lesson. Students were empowered by chopping their own vegetables, measuring and mixing their own batters, cooking in skillets, etc. This experience always resulted in a mess to clean up (in which the students were also responsible); but even more so it resulted in valuable lessons learned.

At the end of the 12 session series, according to beginning and exit data comparison:

• 95% of the students improved their diet quality
• 73% improved food safety practices
• Half of the students drank sweetened drinks less frequently