Creating a Healthy campus and Adopting Healthy Eating Habits. Cooking classes on Universities Campuses Renee Hodgson and Robin Harris

The health issue of interest that we chose is how to establish and maintain healthy eating habits, and creating a healthy campus. As this can be difficult and not to mention eating healthy can be quite expensive. This is why our target audience is university students, as being a student is an expense in its self. As most eating habits have set since becoming a university student, we want to focus on promoting and keeping a healthy diet.

Previous Data Brown, B. J., & Hermann, J. R. (2005). Cooking Classes Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Food Safety Behaviors in Youth and Adults. Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior, 37(2), 104-105. doi:10.1016/S1499- 4046(06)60027-4 This article examines the effect of cooking classes on the fruit and vegetable intake and food safety behaviors in youth and adults. This took place with a group called Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service developed cooking classes to provide education on basic fruit and vegetable preparation skills, food safety practices, and nutrition related to produce. Six hundred individuals participated and completed the evaluation of the program, which was done by a survey. They found significant increases in the number of fruit and vegetable servings consumed per day were observed for both youth and adults. There was also improvements in safe food-handling behaviors such as washing hands and the washing of fresh produce before use and consumption.

Theory of Reasoned Action/ Planned Behavior model tells us that an individual’s behavior is not only determined by personal attitudes but also by social pressures. We want to use this model to help develop good eating habits. The theory of reasoned action says that often if people tend to evaluate the suggested behaviour as something positive, and if their significant other or other social factors wants them to perform it, they are more likely to perform the behaviour as it results in higher intentions to do so. This being said, if we can showcase these healthy eating habits in a positive and engaging manner, it is more likely university students will find them more appealing.

Our Idea Students would be charged five to ten dollars to participate in a cooking class offered on campus. These classes would be offered each month, and each one would teach a different quick, and healthy recipe. Recipe cards would be given out at the end of each class and students would be encouraged to bring empty Tupperware containers so they could bring home their leftovers. By having students do this in a group, they would influence each other to keep up the good habit, and they could even share their recipes that they could have made throughout the month.

We believe that this would overall be a good and efficient way to get people to think about their health and the eating habits that they adopt. It is a much more interactive and engaging way for young adults to learn about eating healthy and maintaining a certain lifestyle. We could assess any behavior change by running a survey among the students on campus, or even having a mass email sent out to get individual’s attitudes and ideas towards this proposal. The Pros Teach students how to cook How to eat healthy How to maintain a healthy lifestyle Social interaction and group work Provide information and resources when it comes to cooking with fresh and local foods Teach students about proportions Help students reconnect with food, the joy of cooking, and eating well.

The Cons The barriers that stand in the way of this project include who will construct the classes? How will we go about getting the essentials for cooking such as a functioning kitchen with all of its necessary supplies The cost of the food We thought the best way to minimize these issues is by donations, or by having an actual group (such as a society) that would be willing to volunteer for this as well as having other events to help fund this project.