Author: Kimberly Ragland
Planning Unit: Boyle County CES
Major Program: Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Core Curriculum
Plan of Work: Acquisition of Life Skills
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
The National Survey of Children's Health in 2011 indicated almost 20% of Kentucky's 10- to 17-year-olds are obese (weighing in the 95th percentile or higher) with another 16% in the overweight (85th-94th percentiles) range. As reported in the Institute for Environmental Decisions (2013) and elsewhere, individuals with cooking skills make healthier eating choices. Local 4-H staff and volunteers used the Super Star Chef curriculum and provided the instruction, materials, and facility to host a year-long cooking project group for teens called Teens v. Food. In monthly meetings combined with the Teen Club, 22 youth participated in preparing full meals for the group including breakfasts, salads, pasta, and baking. Youth practiced reading recipes, modifying recipes, tool use, cooking styles, and presentation. Youth chose what they wanted to try for each meal, prepared the food from beginning to end, ate and finally cleaned up, as a group. Youth reported 100% had used some of the skills they had practiced in the project group at home to prepare foods or meals for their families. All participants had prepared at least one of the dishes from the project group for themselves or their families at home. All participants stated their kitchen skills and confidence in their ability to cook had increased as a result of the project group. And all reported they were in the kitchen more and including more fruits and vegetables in their diets as a result of participation in Teens v. Food.
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