Lynn Fredericks, BA, FamilyCook Productions, 330 East 43rd Street, Ste.704, New York, NY 10017, 212/867-3929, Lynn@FamilyCookProductions.com, Mercedes Sanchez, RD, Pediatrics, New York Methodist Hospital, 516 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, and Robert Fullilove, EdD, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, Columbia University, 513 W. 166th Street, Room 325, New York, NY 10027.

Preferred Care (HMO in Rochester, N.Y.) and the YMCAs of Rochester partnered with FamilyCook Productions to create a hands-on cooking after-school curriculum to prevent child overweight and other dietary-related, chronic diseases. The primary objectives were to: 1) provide practical strategies to parents and children to make healthier food choices; and 2) develop families' culinary skills and seasonal awareness through partnerships with local agriculture to encourage preparation of more home-cooked meals using fresh fruits and vegetables. This multi-disciplinary program was divided by seasons --“winter” and “spring” -- over 4 months. Family sessions (3 total) introduced parents to safe and simple methods to prepare healthful meals with their children. Child-only classes (9 total) provided a multi-cultural approach to weekly recipe preparation that used stories about each culture to deliver program messages about the value of family meals and positive dietary behaviors. A total of 602 families in 13 sites (mostly school-based) were administered surveys (before and after the program) to measure changes in self-efficacy in meal preparation and changes in healthy dietary behaviors. Focus groups were conducted 3 weeks into the program and again at the end of the program to assess strengths and weaknesses in the program’s administration. Preliminary results suggest that the combination of family and child-only classes in a skills-building, nutrition-awareness curriculum improves the capacity of family members to work together to prepare healthful meals.

Learning Objectives: Demonstrate the effectiveness of a whole-family approach in improving family eating habits and reducing childhood obestity. At the conclusion of this session the participant will be able to

• construct a family-oriented, skills-building approach to change dietary behavior;
• apply the techniques which empower parents and kids to transform their relationship with food, both in its selection and in its preparation; and
• develop appropriate evaluation strategies to assess the impact of the program.

Keywords: Children's Health, Obesity

Related Web page: www.FamilyCookProductions.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.