Experiential healthy meal preparation: A randomized-controlled trial to improve food group consumption and weight status among children

Abstract

Background: Unhealthy eating practices and the continual rise in childhood obesity calls for an effective strategy to promote healthy eating among school-aged children. Aim: The study objective was to determine the change in children's food group consumption and weight status (BMI-for-age z-score, body fat percentage, waist circumference) after participating in a school-based experiential healthy meal preparation intervention. Methods: In this two-arm randomized-controlled trial, 2 schools were randomly assigned to intervention or control group. In total, 86 Malaysian schoolchildren aged 10–11 years participated. The intervention group underwent six 60-min healthy meal preparation modules conducted biweekly. The frequency of food group consumption was self-reported, while weight status was measured. Results: Intervention group consumed whole grains (+1.36 vs 0.00 times/day), vegetables (+2.35 vs −0.29 times/day), fruits (+1.64 vs −0.14 times/day) and legumes (+1.42 vs + 0.13 times/day) more frequently than the control group after the program (p < 0.001). There were significant reductions in unhealthy foods consumption (refined grains: -1.57 vs + 0.36, processed foods: -2.15 vs + 0.36, sweetened beverages: -1.13 vs + 0.58 times/day; p < 0.001) between intervention and control groups. No significant difference was found in children's weight status between groups after the intervention. Conclusion: Findings suggested that an experiential healthy meal preparation program can improve diet and should be explored further as a strategy to control the rise of obesity among children.

Keywords

• Cooking
• Nutrition education
• Food consumption
• Weight status
• Children
• Malaysia