During the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of dietitians, chefs, and researchers in Flint, Michigan, came up with Flint Families Cook, a program for families with kids ages 8 to 18 that was delivered to them and their families online. It was made to address parents’ concerns about poor nutrition and a lack of cooking skills in Flint’s youth.
According to this addition to the great educational material (GEM) collection published by Elsevier in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, it demonstrated success in reaching youth from low-income families and improving cooking self-efficacy, nutrition knowledge, and self-efficacy for consuming fruits and vegetables among young participants, according to this addition to the great educational material (GEM) collection.
Flint Families Cook is a program co-facilitated by a chef and a nutritionist that encourages families to cook healthy meals at home with local foods.
Children and families learn appropriate knife techniques, measuring, sautéing, roasting, and baking from a chef during five weeks of live, virtual training, while a nutritionist focuses on the nutrition and health advantages of certain food groups and nutrients.
Because of the virtual platform, one very essential aspect of the class is that families are engaging in the lessons together rather than youngsters participating in the class individually, apart from their family.
We began to notice parents becoming more involved in their children’s education and sitting at the table once the meals for a family dinner were prepared, “Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Division of Public Health, Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, Flint, MI, U.S., said Amy Saxe-Custack, Ph.D., MPH, RD.
The virtual, family-based model directly involves families in making nutritious meals together and broadens the program’s reach to include entire homes, as well as extended family and friends.
Flint Families Cook addresses issues with cooking and eating healthy foods at home, in addition to having a growing waitlist of interested families. Communities with similar concerns about child nutrition will find such programs realistic and appealing.
