The current study examined perceptions of and experiences with Flint Families Cook, a virtual cooking and nutrition program for youth and families.

Families were invited to participate in virtual focus groups after completing the five-week Flint Families Cook program. The research study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory. Researchers used thematic analysis to examine the transcribed focus groups, identify patterns across transcripts, and develop emerging themes.

Families living in Flint and surrounding Genesee County, Michigan, USA engaged in virtual focus groups via Zoom.

Youth (n=32; 59% female, 53% African American) and adult caregivers (n=31; 90% female, 39% African American) participated in focus groups between October 2020 and February 2022.

Five themes were generated from the focus group discussions: (i) general cooking challenges; (ii) class format; (iii) family support; (iv) provision of food; and (v) instruction and learning.

In addition to perceived positive impacts on cooking skills and nutrition education, many participants shared that Flint Families Cook encouraged family cohesion and support. Most caregivers felt the program, which included instruction by a chef and dietitian as well as ingredient box delivery, had important impacts on emotional health of youth and family resilience. Flint Families Cook, and similar virtual scalable programs, could broadly reach children and families to support physical and psychosocial health, especially in low-resource communities where such interventions may be most beneficial.

To examine changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among youth who participated in Flint Kids Cook, a 6-week healthy cooking programme for children, and assess whether changes in HRQoL were associated with changes in cooking self-efficacy, attitude towards cooking (ATC) and diet.

Pre-post survey (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Block Kids Food Screener, 8-item cooking self-efficacy, 6-item ATC) using child self-report at baseline and programme exit. Analysis involved paired sample t-tests and Pearson’s correlations.

Farmers’ market in Flint, Michigan, USA.

Children (n 186; 55·9 % female, 72·6 % African American) participated in Flint Kids Cook from October 2017 to February 2020 (mean age 10·55 ± 1·83 years; range 8–15).

Mean HRQoL summary score improved (P < 0·001) from baseline (77·22 ± 14·27) to programme exit (81·62 ± 14·43), as did mean psychosocial health summary score (74·68 ± 15·68 v. 79·04 ± 16·46, P = 0·001). Similarly, physical (P = 0·016), emotional (P = 0·002), social (P = 0·037), and school functioning (P = 0·002) improved. There was a correlation between change in HRQoL summary score and change in ATC (r = –0·194, P = 0·025) as well as change in cooking self-efficacy (r = –0·234, P = 0·008). Changes in HRQoL and psychosocial health summary scores were not correlated with dietary changes, which included decreased added sugar (P = 0·019) and fruit juice (P = 0·004) intake.

This study is the first to report modest yet significant improvements in HRQoL among children and adolescents who participated in a healthy cooking programme. Results suggest that cooking programmes for youth may provide important psychosocial health benefits that are unrelated to dietary changes.