Date of Award

Summer 8-16-2024

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Food and Nutrition Sciences

Advisor

Jade McNamara

Second Committee Member

Mona Therrien-Genest

Third Committee Member

Yanyan Li

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine if an evidence-based cooking intervention would improve the cooking skills (CS), cooking self-efficacy (CSE), interactive nutrition literacy (INL), and fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) of participating college students. Methods: A pre-post quasi-experimental study measured the effects of a cooking and nutrition education intervention on health behaviors of college students. An electronic survey was sent out to all undergraduate students at the University of Maine and University of Kentucky assessing sociodemographic factors, FVI, CS, CSE, and INL. Following the survey, respondents could enroll in a cooking intervention: the College Cooking Connection (CCC). A paired-samples t-test was used to assess changes in FVI, CS, CSE, and INL pre to post intervention. A repeated measures ANOVA analyzed changes in variables between those who attended all four classes and those who attended less than four. Descriptive frequencies described students' perceptions of skill improvement. Results: Participants were an average of 19.4 (±3.1) years old, primarily white (79.7%), female (70.3%), and evenly distributed across grade levels. There was a significant difference in college students’ CS (t(62)= -3.4, p

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