Confident, fearful and hopeless cooks: Findings from the development of a food-skills initiative

One of the many barriers to a healthier diet in low-income communities is a presumed lack of practical food skills. This article reports findings from exploratory qualitative research conducted with potential participants in a cooking skills intervention, in low income communities in Scotland. The research found widely varying levels of skill and confidence regarding cooking, supported the need for a community-based intervention approach, and demonstrated the importance of consumer research to inform the content of interventions. Challenges the view that low income communities lack skills, suggesting that food skills should be defined more broadly than “cooking from scratch”. Other barriers to healthy eating, such as poverty, food access and taste preferences, remain important

Reducing the Salt Added to Takeaway Food: Within-Subjects Comparison of Salt Delivered by Five and 17 Holed Salt Shakers in Controlled Conditions

Objectives To determine if the amount of salt delivered by standard salt shakers commonly used in English independent takeaways varies between those with five and 17 holes; and to determine if any differences are robust to variations in: the amount of salt in the shaker, the length of time spent shaking, and the person serving. Design Four laboratory experiments comparing the amount of salt delivered by shakers. Independent variables considered were: type of shaker used (five or 17 holes), amount of salt in the shaker before shaking commences (shaker full, half full or nearly empty), time spent shaking (3s, 5s or 10s), and individual serving. Setting Controlled, laboratory, conditions. Participants A quota-based convenience sample of 10 participants (five women) aged 18–59 years. Main Outcome Measures Amount of salt delivered by salt shakers. Results Across all trials, the 17 holed shaker delivered a mean (SD) of 7.86g (4.54) per trial, whilst the five holed shaker delivered 2.65g (1.22). The five holed shaker delivered a mean of 33.7% of the salt of the 17 holed shaker. There was a significant difference in salt delivered between the five and 17 holed salt shakers when time spent shaking, amount of salt in the shaker and participant were all kept constant (p<0.001). This difference was robust to variations in the starting weight of shakers, time spent shaking and participant shaking (p

Comparison of sodium content of meals served by independent takeaways using standard versus reduced holed salt shakers: cross-sectional study

Background Takeaway food has a relatively poor nutritional profile. Providing takeaway outlets with reduced-holed salt shakers is one method thought to reduce salt use in takeaways, but effects have not been formally tested. We aimed to determine if there was a difference in sodium content of standard fish and chip meals served by Fish & Chip Shops that use standard (17 holes) versus reduced-holed (5 holes) salt shakers, taking advantage of natural variations in salt shakers used. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of all Fish & Chip Shops in two local government areas (n = 65), where servers added salt to meals as standard practice, and salt shaker used could be identified (n = 61). Standard fish and chip meals were purchased from each shop by incognito researchers and the purchase price and type of salt shaker used noted. Sodium content of full meals and their component parts (fish, chips, and fish batter) was determined using flame photometry. Differences in absolute and relative sodium content of meals and component parts between shops using reduced-holed versus standard salt-shakers were compared using linear regression before and after adjustment for purchase price and area. Results Reduced-holed salt shakers were used in 29 of 61 (47.5 %) included shops. There was no difference in absolute sodium content of meals purchased from shops using standard versus reduced-holed shakers (mean = 1147 mg [equivalent to 2.9 g salt]; SD = 424 mg; p > 0.05). Relative sodium content was significantly lower in meals from shops using reduced-holed (mean = 142.5 mg/100 g [equivalent to 0.4 g salt/100 g]; SD = 39.0 mg/100 g) versus standard shakers (mean = 182.0 mg/100 g; [equivalent to 0.5 g salt/100 g]; SD = 68.3 mg/100 g; p = 0.008). This was driven by differences in the sodium content of chips and was extinguished by adjustment for purchase price and area. Price was inversely associated with relative sodium content (p < 0.05). Conclusions Using reduced-holed salt shakers in Fish & Chip Shops is associated with lower relative sodium content of fish and chip meals. This is driven by differences in sodium content of chips, making our results relevant to the wide range of takeaways serving chips. Shops serving higher priced meals, which may reflect a more affluent customer base, may be more likely to use reduced-holed shakers

Critical review of behaviour change techniques applied in intervention studies to improve cooking skills and food skills among adults

BACKGROUND: Cooking and food skills interventions have grown in popularity; however, there is a lack of transparency as to how these interventions were designed, highlighting a need to identify and understand the mechanisms of behavior change so that effective components may be introduced in future work. This study critiques cooking and food skills interventions in relation to their design, behavior change techniques (BCTs), theoretical underpinnings, and outcomes. METHODS: A 40-item CALO-RE taxonomy was used to examine the components of 59 cooking and food skills interventions identified by two systematic reviews. Studies were coded by three independent coders. RESULTS: The three most frequently occurring BCTs identified were #1 Provide information on consequences of behavior in general; #21 Provide instruction on how to perform the behavior; and #26 Prompt Practice. Fifty-six interventions reported positive short-term outcomes. Only 14 interventions reported long-term outcomes containing BCTs relating to information provision. CONCLUSION: This study reviewed cooking and food skills interventions highlighting the most commonly used BCTs, and those associated with long-term positive outcomes for cooking skills and diet. This study indicates the potential for using the BCT CALO-RE taxonomy to inform the design, planning, delivery and evaluation of future interventions

Social disparities in food preparation behaviours: a DEDIPAC study

BACKGROUND: The specific role of major socio-economic indicators in influencing food preparation behaviours could reveal distinct socio-economic patterns, thus enabling mechanisms to be understood that contribute to social inequalities in health. This study investigated whether there was an independent association of each socio-economic indicator (education, occupation, income) with food preparation behaviours. METHODS: A total of 62,373 adults participating in the web-based NutriNet-Santé cohort study were included in our cross-sectional analyses. Cooking skills, preparation from scratch and kitchen equipment were assessed using a 0-10-point score; frequency of meal preparation, enjoyment of cooking and willingness to cook better/more frequently were categorical variables. Independent associations between socio-economic factors (education, income and occupation) and food preparation behaviours were assessed using analysis of covariance and logistic regression models stratified by sex. The models simultaneously included the three socio-economic indicators, adjusting for age, household composition and whether or not they were the main cook in the household. RESULTS: Participants with the lowest education, the lowest income group and female manual and office workers spent more time preparing food daily than participants with the highest education, those with the highest income and managerial staff (P < 0.0001). The lowest educated individuals were more likely to be non-cooks than those with the highest education level (Women: OR = 3.36 (1.69;6.69); Men: OR = 1.83 (1.07;3.16)) while female manual and office workers and the never-employed were less likely to be non-cooks (OR = 0.52 (0.28;0.97); OR = 0.30 (0.11;0.77)). Female manual and office workers had lower scores of preparation from scratch and were less likely to want to cook more frequently than managerial staff (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). Women belonging to the lowest income group had a lower score of kitchen equipment (P < 0.0001) and were less likely to enjoy cooking meal daily (OR = 0.68 (0.45;0.86)) than those with the highest income. CONCLUSION: Lowest socio-economic groups, particularly women, spend more time preparing food than high socioeconomic groups. However, female manual and office workers used less raw or fresh ingredients to prepare meals than managerial staff. In the unfavourable context in France with reduced time spent preparing meals over last decades, our findings showed socioeconomic disparities in food preparation behaviours in women, whereas few differences were observed in men