Assessing the Impact of Virtual Family Cooking Nights

Vetri Community Partnership (VCP) partnered with JCPH's Dr. Katie Isselmann DiSantis and students Diana Rios and Arlene Maheu to evaluate the impact of their virtual family cooking nights on cooking self-efficacy and attitudes related to food preparation, ability to include?healthy fresh foods in family meals, and the frequency of dinner meals consumed outside?the home (deli, carry-out, fast food or other restaurant).?

They found that the 6-night Family Cooking series resulted in increases in cooking self-efficacy and small changes in literacy scores related to food preparation.?This encourages continued investigation into the impact of an online cooking intervention on these constructs, followed by longer assessment periods to better understand the potential impacts on cooking behaviors and dietary consumption patterns. Dr. DiSantis intends to continue supporting VCP's work around healthy family meals and valued this opportunity to collaborate with VCP and JCPH students. This work was partially funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-ED) through the PA department of Human Services (DHS).