Impact of the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School on Participants’ Nutrition Knowledge and Cooking Confidence
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Source
2.2. Educator Training
2.3. Program Implementation
2.4. Program Evaluation
3. Results
3.1. Participant Characteristics
3.2. General Health, Physical Activity, and Nutrition
3.3. Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence in Healthy Cooking
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
DTHCS | Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School |
ODA | Office of Data and Accountability |
References
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Participant Characteristics | n (%) | |
---|---|---|
Age (years) | <18 | 318 (4.0) |
18–24 | 302 (3.8) | |
25–34 | 950 (12.0) | |
35–44 | 1225 (15.4) | |
45–54 | 1491 (18.8) | |
55–64 | 1485 (18.7) | |
≥65 | 1892 (23.9) | |
n/a | 269 (3.4) | |
Gender | Male | 1812 (22.8) |
Female | 5804 (73.2) | |
n/a | 316 (4.0) | |
Race/Ethnicity | White | 3488 (44.0) |
African American | 650 (8.0) | |
Hispanic | 3204 (40.4) | |
Other * | 311 (3.9) | |
n/a | 279 (3.5) | |
Number of members in the household | Single-person household | 1049 (13.2) |
Small household (2–3 members) | 3828 (48.3) | |
Medium household (4–5 members) | 1808 (22.8) | |
Large household (≥6 members) | 402 (5.1) | |
n/a | 845 (10.7) | |
Texas Region | Central | 527 (6.6) |
East | 2526 (31.8) | |
North | 276 (3.5) | |
South | 3005 (37.9) | |
Southeast | 1468 (18.5) | |
West | 130 (1.6) |
Participant Self-Reported Health Behaviors | n (%) | |
---|---|---|
Perception of general health | Excellent/very good/good | 6104 (77.0) |
Fair/poor | 1630 (20.5) | |
n/a | 198 (2.5) | |
Engage in moderate and/or vigorous physical activity in the past month | Yes | 4779 (60.2) |
No | 2625 (33.1) | |
n/a | 528 (6.7) | |
Meals consumed outside the home | Rarely/never (≤2 meals per week) | 3375 (42.5) |
Occasionally (3–5 meals per week) | 2505 (31.6) | |
Frequently (6–9 meals per week) | 576 (7.3) | |
Very frequently (≥10 meals) | 464 (5.8) | |
n/a | 1012 (12.8) | |
Amount spent each week on meals consumed outside the home | Low spending (<USD 25/week) | 1729 (21.8) |
Moderate spending (USD 26–USD 75/week) | 2687 (33.9) | |
High spending (USD 76–USD 150/week) | 1688 (21.3) | |
Very high spending (>USD 150/week) | 514 (6.5) | |
n/a | 1314 (16.6) | |
Portion of dinner plate filled with fruits and vegetables | More than 1/2 | 3140 (39.6) |
Less than 1/2 | 4512 (56.9) | |
n/a | 280 (3.5) | |
Fruit consumption | ≥3 times a day | 1027 (12.9) |
<3 times a day | 6537 (82.4) | |
n/a | 368 (4.6) | |
Vegetable consumption | ≥3 times a day | 1498 (18.9) |
<3 times a day | 6063 (76.4) | |
n/a | 371 (4.7) | |
Regular soda consumption | ≤3 times a week | 5808 (73.2) |
>3 times a week | 1745 (22.0) | |
n/a | 379 (4.8) | |
Sweetened beverage consumption | ≤3 times a week | 5422 (68.4) |
>3 times a week | 2005 (25.3) | |
n/a | 505 (6.4) |
Changes in Nutrition Knowledge (1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = excellent) | n | Before Mean (SD) | After Mean (SD) | p |
Benefits of meal planning | 6800 | 2.73 (0.81) | 3.50 (0.58) | <0.001 |
Sodium content of foods | 6750 | 2.64 (0.84) | 3.44 (0.64) | <0.001 |
Fat content of foods | 6726 | 2.63 (0.81) | 3.43 (0.63) | <0.001 |
Calorie content of foods | 6736 | 2.58 (0.83) | 3.41 (0.63) | <0.001 |
Impact of food on health | 6739 | 2.82 (0.80) | 3.57 (0.57) | <0.001 |
Changes in Confidence Level (1 = none; 2 = low; 3 = moderate; 4 = high) | n | Before Mean (SD) | After Mean (SD) | p |
Meal planning for healthy eating | 6732 | 2.77 (0.78) | 3.58 (0.55) | <0.001 |
Modifying recipes to reduce calories | 6702 | 2.64 (0.79) | 3.53 (0.59) | <0.001 |
Modifying recipes to reduce sodium | 6684 | 2.65 (0.81) | 3.53 (0.60) | <0.001 |
Modifying recipes to change or reduce fat | 6664 | 2.66 (0.81) | 3.53 (0.60) | <0.001 |
Selecting fruits and vegetables | 6611 | 2.83 (0.74) | 3.62 (0.56) | <0.001 |
Safely storing meats | 6550 | 2.86 (0.80) | 3.58 (0.61) | <0.001 |
Safely preparing fruits, vegetables, and meats | 6598 | 2.89 (0.78) | 3.64 (0.56) | <0.001 |
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Venkatesh, S.; Keenan, O.E.; Bably, M.B. Impact of the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School on Participants’ Nutrition Knowledge and Cooking Confidence. Nutrients 2025, 17, 1668. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17101668
Venkatesh S, Keenan OE, Bably MB. Impact of the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School on Participants’ Nutrition Knowledge and Cooking Confidence. Nutrients. 2025; 17(10):1668. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17101668
Chicago/Turabian StyleVenkatesh, Sumathi, Odessa E. Keenan, and Morium B. Bably. 2025. "Impact of the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School on Participants’ Nutrition Knowledge and Cooking Confidence" Nutrients 17, no. 10: 1668. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17101668
APA StyleVenkatesh, S., Keenan, O. E., & Bably, M. B. (2025). Impact of the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School on Participants’ Nutrition Knowledge and Cooking Confidence. Nutrients, 17(10), 1668. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17101668