Empowering youth as change agents for family nutrition though culinary leadership programs

INTRODUCTION: Youth empowerment programs have been shown to improve participant health behaviors, however the literature lacks research on any radiating impacts on teen's families. Previous single-site research demonstrated that FamilyCook Production's Teen Battle Chef (TBC) culinary curriculum promotes improved participant eating habits. This multi-site study examines new TBC leadership extension program impacts on teens' health and leadership capacity, and the radiating effect of their participation on their guardians.

METHODS: Pre/post surveys quantitatively measure health attitudes, behaviors and leadership capacity of teens and guardians from 30 programs. Survey questions measure program goals and YRBSS indicators. TBC participants' academic performance and attendance are compared to school averages. Leadership extension participants' results are compared to basic TBC data. Diverse settings' data are compared. Evaluation is conducted using RE-AIM framework.

RESULTS: Prior FamilyCook studies indicate significant increases in healthy eating, skill, self-esteem, and empowerment after TBC. Pilot studies show improvement in academics, and families' cooking and consuming healthy foods at home. This larger-scale study determines whether program effectiveness in these outcomes across multiple diverse program sites. It explores differences between program sites and between original TBC versus TBC with the leadership extension.

DISCUSSION: Significantly improved health and academic achievement would demonstrate the value of empowering culinary education. Indicators that lack positive results will guide redesign. Differences among program types will identify effective implementations that warrant replication. This study advances health behavior change models, paving the way for demonstration projects that reverse outdated parent-centered paradigms and empower teens to build healthier families.