Super Star Chef

The mission of the Super Star Chef series is to provide a fun and educational environment for youth to gain knowledge and learn skills which will lead to success in the kitchen. The Christian County Cooperative Extension Service partnered with the UK Nutrition Education Program to implement Super Star Chef for 17 youth participants. Throughout the three day program, participants learned safety in the kitchen; reading a recipe; cooking techniques; nutrition facts; and dietary and physical activity information to assist the students in making good choices for a healthy lifestyle.

This report is based on the data from the seventeen (17) respondents to the pre- and post-tests. Of these respondents, fourteen (14) were female and three (3) were male. 

Overall, pre-post comparisons of participant responses to the assessment instrument show that the program enhanced participant understanding of the nutrition concepts covered in the program. The average total score on the test increased from 11.59 in the pretest to 14.00 in the post-test (out of a maximum of 15). The pre-post-test also included seven items that measured participants’ cooking self-efficacy. Responses to these seven items were summed to create a cooking self-efficacy score. Pre-post analysis showed that participants’ cooking self-efficacy increased from 25.44 in the pretest to 28.56 in the post-test (out of a maximum of 32). 

The post-test also included eight (8) self-assessment of learning gains items. These items asked the participants to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that they learned the concepts described in each statement. Sixteen participants responded to these questions. All the respondents (100%) agreed/strongly agreed that they learned about the amount of fruits and vegetables they should have on their plates; learned about how germs can be transferred to food; learned about how to wash their hands to remove germs; learned how to read nutrition labels; and learned about the correct way to hold a knife for cutting. Also, all the participants (100.0%) plan to eat more fruits and vegetables after participating in the program.

The Super Star Chef program was a great success in Christian County. Several parents have reported that their children have continued to use the skills learned during the program to help with meal preparation and healthy food choices at home.