University Students Implement a Nutrition and Cooking Education Curriculum With Fidelity

Objective: To assess the ability of trained university students to implement Cooking Matters for Kids, a hands-on nutrition and cooking education curriculum for third through fifth-grade children.

Methods: Process evaluation data were collected from 6 Cooking Matters for Kids courses led by university students in the fall of 2019 and spring of 2020 at 6 afterschool programs in Orange County, North Carolina. Trained research assistants observed lessons and reported whether key intervention components were implemented as planned, the level of participant engagement, what worked well, and what could be improved on.

Results: University students implemented the curriculum with high fidelity and kept most participants engaged during lessons. Dividing children into smaller groups and assigning instructor roles worked well. Limited completion of take-home challenge activities was an area to improve on.

Conclusions and implications: University students may be effective instructors for Cooking Matters for Kids and other related programs.