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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated physical inactivity, poor dietary intake and reduced mental wellbeing, contributing factors to non-communicable diseases in children. Cooking interventions are proposed as having a positive influence on children's diet quality. Motor skills have been highlighted as essential for performance of cooking skills, and this movement may contribute to wellbeing. Additionally, perceived competence is a motivator for behaviour performance and thus important for understanding intervention effectiveness. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the effectiveness of an adapted virtual theory-based cooking intervention on perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing. Methods: The effective theory-driven and co-created 'Cook Like A Boss' was adapted to a virtual five day camp-styled intervention, with 248 children across the island of Ireland participating during the pandemic. Pre- and post-intervention assessments of perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing using validated measurements were completed through online surveys. Bivariate Correlations, paired samples t-tests and Hierarchical multiple regression modelling was conducted using SPSS to understand the relationships between the variables and the effect of the intervention. Results: 210 participants had matched survey data and were included in analysis. Significant positive correlations were shown between perceived cooking competence, perceived movement competence and wellbeing (P < 0.05). Children's perceived cooking competence (P < 0.001, medium to large effect size), perceived movement competence (P < 0.001, small to medium effect size) and wellbeing (P = 0.013, small effect size) all significantly increased from pre to post intervention. For the Hierarchical regression, the final model explained 57% of the total variance in participants' post-intervention perceived cooking competence. Each model explained a significant amount of variance (P < 0.05). Pre-intervention perceived cooking competence, wellbeing, age and perceived movement competence were significant predictors for post-intervention perceived cooking competence in the final model. Conclusion: The 'Cook Like A Boss' Online intervention was an adapted virtual outreach intervention. It provides initial evidence for the associations between perceived cooking competence, perceived movement and wellbeing as well as being effective in their improvement. This research shows the potential for cooking to be used as a mechanism for targeting improvements in not only diet quality but also movement and wellbeing. Trial Registration: NCT05395234. Retrospectively registered on 26th May 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence suggests that dietary intake of UK children is suboptimal. As schools provide an ideal natural environment for public health interventions, effective and sustainable methods of improving food knowledge and dietary habits in this population must be identified. Project Daire aimed to improve children's health-related quality of life, wellbeing, food knowledge and dietary habits via two multi-component interventions. Methods: Daire was a randomised-controlled, factorial design trial evaluating two interventions across four arms. Primary schools in Northern Ireland were randomised to one of four 6-month intervention arms: i) 'Nourish', ii) 'Engage', iii) 'Nourish' and 'Engage' and iv) Control (Delayed). 'Nourish' was an intervention aiming to alter the whole-school food environment, provide food-related experiences and exposure to locally produced foods. 'Engage' was an age-appropriate, cross-curricular educational intervention on food, agriculture, nutrition science and related careers. Primary outcomes were emotional and behavioural wellbeing and health-related quality of life. A number of secondary outcomes, including dietary intake, cooking competence and food-related knowledge, were also measured. Results: Fifteen schools from areas of varying socio-economic status participated in the randomised trial. A total of 903 (n = 445 aged 6–7 years and n = 458 aged 10–11 years) primary school pupils took part. Total Difficulties Score improved in all pupils (6–7 and 10–11 year old pupils) who received the 'Nourish' intervention compared with those that did not (adjusted difference in mean = − 0.82; 95% CI -1.46, − 0.17; P < 0.02). No statistically significant difference in Health-Related Quality of Life was observed. The 'Nourish' intervention also produced some changes in school-based dietary behaviour, which were most apparent in the 10–11 year old pupils. The 'Nourish' intervention also produced improvements in understanding of food labels (adjusted difference in mean = 0.15; 95% CI 0.05, 0.25; P < 0.01) and knowledge of vegetables in season (adjusted difference in mean = 0.29; 95% CI 0.01,0.56; P = 0.04) whilst an increased willingness to try new foods and improved perceived cooking competence was also observed. Conclusions: Improvements in childhood emotional and behavioural wellbeing, dietary intake, knowledge about food, cooking skills and willingness to try new foods were associated with the 'Nourish' whole-school food environment intervention. Exploration of the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of such whole-school food interventions should be conducted. Trial registration: National Institute of Health (NIH) U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials.gov (ID: NCT04277312). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning cooking skills during childhood and adolescence is associated with positive dietary outcomes in adulthood as well as being tracked from adolescence to adulthood. In addition studies have found that perceived competence to be a greater motivator to perform a behaviour than actual competence. However, a lack of validated tools that effectively measure behavioural and dietary changes including cooking confidence in children is a limitation. Therefore, this research aimed to develop and validate age-appropriate perceived cooking competence measures for younger and older primary school aged children. Methods: Two measures of perceived Cooking Competence (CooC11 and CooC7) for older (8–12 years) and younger (6–7 years) children were developed from a critical evaluation of publically available recommendations and expert consultation. The cooking skills within the measures were illustrated by a graphic designer in consultation with a chef and reviewed in an iterative manner by the research team. The measures were piloted for clarity, ease of use and initial face validity. Multiple studies were used for both CooC11 and CooC7 to establish psychometric properties of the measures, temporal stability, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, as well as responsiveness to change for CooC11. Analysis included Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Intraclass Correlation Coefficients, Pearson's Correlations, ANOVAs and Cronbach's Alphas. Results: Both measures had high levels of face validity and received positive user feedback. Two factors were shown in both measures with the measures showing excellent temporal stability (ICC > 0.9) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's Alphas > 0.7). Both measures showed initial discriminant validity, with significant differences (P< 0.001) between those who reported assisting their parents with dinner preparation and those who did not. Additionally, CooC11 was significantly correlated with an adult cooking measure and had a significant responsiveness to change (P< 0.01). Conclusions: The CooC11 and CooC7 are the first validated age-appropriate measures for assessing children's perceived Cooking Competence for ages 8–12 and 6–7 years respectively. They can be used to evaluate the efficacy of children's cooking intervention studies or school nutrition education programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the increase use of convenience food and eating outside the home environment being linked to the obesity epidemic, the need to assess and monitor individuals cooking and food skills is key to help intervene where necessary to promote the usage of these skills. Therefore, this research aimed to develop and validate a measure for cooking skills and one for food skills, that are clearly described, relatable, user-friendly, suitable for different types of studies, and applicable across all sociodemographic levels. Methods: Two measures were developed in light of the literature and expert opinion and piloted for clarity and ease of use. Following this, four studies were undertaken across different cohorts (including a sample of students, both 'Food preparation novices' and 'Experienced food preparers', and a nationally representative sample) to assess temporal stability, psychometrics, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of both measures. Analysis included T-tests, Pearson's correlations, factor analysis, and Cronbach's alphas, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Both measures were found to have a significant level of temporal stability ( P < 0.001). Factor analysis revealed three factors with eigenvalues over 1, with two items in a third factor outside the two suggested measures. The internal consistency reliability for the cooking skills confidence measure ranged from 0.78 to 0.93 across all cohorts. The food skills confidence measure's Cronbach's alpha's ranged from 0.85 to 0.94. The two measures also showed a high discriminate validity as there were significant differences ( P < 0.05 for cooking skills confidence and P < 0.01 for food skills confidence) between Food preparation novices' and 'Experienced food preparers.' Conclusions: The cooking skills confidence measure and the food skills confidence measure have been shown to have a very satisfactory reliability, validity and are consistent over time. Their user-friendly applicability make both measures highly suitable for large scale cross-sectional, longitudinal and intervention studies to assess or monitor cooking and food skills levels and confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cooking skills are increasingly included in strategies to prevent and reduce chronic diet-related diseases and obesity. While cooking interventions target all age groups (Child, Teen and Adult), the optimal age for learning these skills on: 1) skills retention, 2) cooking practices, 3) cooking attitudes, 4) diet quality and 5) health is unknown. Similarly, although the source of learning cooking skills has been previously studied, the differences in learning from these different sources has not been considered. This research investigated the associations of the age and source of learning with the aforementioned five factors. Methods: A nationally representative (Northern/Republic of Ireland) cross-sectional survey was undertaken with 1049 adults aged between 20-60 years. The survey included both measures developed and tested by the researchers as well as validated measures of cooking (e.g. chopping) and food skills (e.g. budgeting), cooking practices (e.g. food safety), cooking attitudes, diet quality and health. Respondents also stated when they learnt the majority of their skills and their sources of learning. The data was analysed using ANOVAs with post-hoc analysis and Chi² crosstabs with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Results showed that child (<12 years) and/or teen (13-18 years) learners had significantly greater numbers of, and confidence in, their cooking and food skills, cooking practices, cooking attitudes, diet quality (with the exception of fibre intake where adult learners were higher) and health. Mother was the primary source of learning and those who learnt only from this source had significantly better outcomes on 12 of the 23 measures. Conclusions: This research highlights the importance of learning cooking skills at an early age for skill retention, confidence, cooking practices, cooking attitude and diet quality. Mother remained the primary source of learning, however, as there is a reported deskilling of domestic cooks, mothers may no longer have the ability to teach cooking skills to the next generation. A focus on alternative sources including practical cooking skills education starting at an early age is required. This study also highlights the need for further longitudinal research on the impact of age and source of learning on cooking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interventions to increase cooking skills (CS) and food skills (FS) as a route to improving overall diet are popular within public health. This study tested a comprehensive model of diet quality by assessing the influence of socio-demographic, knowledge- and psychological-related variables alongside perceived CS and FS abilities. The correspondence of two measures of diet quality further validated the Eating Choices Index (ECI) for use in quantitative research. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a quota-controlled nationally representative sample of 1049 adults aged 20-60 years drawn from the Island of Ireland. Surveys were administered in participants' homes via computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) assessing a range of socio-demographic, knowledge- and psychological-related variables alongside perceived CS and FS abilities. Regression models were used to model factors influencing diet quality. Correspondence between 2 measures of diet quality was assessed using chi-square and Pearson correlations. Results: ECI score was significantly negatively correlated with DINE Fat intake (r = -0.24, p < 0.001), and ECI score was significantly positively correlated with DINE Fibre intake (r = 0.38, p < 0.001), demonstrating a high agreement. Findings indicated that males, younger respondents and those with no/few educational qualifications scored significantly lower on both CS and FS abilities. The relative influence of socio-demographic, knowledge, psychological variables and CS and FS abilities on dietary outcomes varied, with regression models explaining 10-20 % of diet quality variance. CS ability exerted the strongest relationship with saturated fat intake (β = -0.296, p < 0.001) and was a significant predictor of fibre intake (β = -0.113, p < 0.05), although not for healthy food choices (ECI) (β = 0.04, p > 0.05). Conclusion: Greater CS and FS abilities may not lead directly to healthier dietary choices given the myriad of other factors implicated; however, CS appear to have differential influences on aspects of the diet, most notably in relation to lowering saturated fat intake. Findings suggest that CS and FS should not be singular targets of interventions designed to improve diet; but targeting specific sub-groups of the population e.g. males, younger adults, those with limited education might be more fruitful. A greater understanding of the interaction of factors influencing cooking and food practices within the home is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]