title: Cook It Up! A community-based cooking program for at-risk youth: overview of a food literacy intervention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Canada, there are limited occasions for youth, and especially at-risk youth, to participate in cooking programs. The paucity of these programs creates an opportunity for youth-focused cooking programs to be developed, implemented, and evaluated with the goal of providing invaluable life skills and food literacy to this potentially vulnerable group. Thus, an 18-month community-based cooking program for at-risk youth was planned and implemented to improve the development and progression of cooking skills and food literacy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This paper provides an overview of the rationale for and implementation of a cooking skills intervention for at-risk youth. The manuscript provides information about the process of planning and implementing the intervention as well as the evaluation plan. Results of the intervention will be presented elsewhere. Objectives of the intervention included the provision of applied food literacy and cooking skills education taught by local chefs and a Registered Dietitian, and augmented with fieldtrips to community farms to foster an appreciation and understanding of food, from 'gate to plate'. Eight at-risk youth (five girls and three boys, mean age = 14.6) completed the intervention as of November 2010. Pre-test cooking skills assessments were completed for all participants and post-test cooking skills assessments were completed for five of eight participants. Post intervention, five of eight participants completed in-depth interviews about their experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Cook It Up! program can provide an effective template for other agencies and researchers to utilize for enhancing existing programs or to create new applied cooking programs for relevant vulnerable populations. There is also a continued need for applied research in this area to reverse the erosion of cooking skills in Canadian society.
authors.affiliation: Middlesex-London Health Unit, 50 King Street, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5L7. hclarke4@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Heather Mc
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Jennifer D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Irwin
references.citation: Arch Dis Child. 2003 Sep;88(9):748-52
references.pmid: 12937090
references.citation: Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2007 Jun 29;4:28
references.pmid: 17603875
references.citation: J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2000;13 Suppl 6:1395-402
references.pmid: 11202215
references.citation: J Nutr Educ Behav. 2005 Mar-Apr;37(2):104-5
references.pmid: 15882491
references.citation: J Drug Educ. 2010;40(2):203-15
references.pmid: 21133332
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 2003 Nov;103(11):1506-12
references.pmid: 14576717
references.citation: Thorax. 2001 Feb;56(2):133-7
references.pmid: 11209102
references.citation: Public Health Nutr. 2007 Mar;10(3):256-65
references.pmid: 17288623
references.citation: Public Health Nutr. 2007 Feb;10(2):203-11
references.pmid: 17261231
references.citation: Public Health Nutr. 2002 Jun;5(3):497-503
references.pmid: 12003663
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 2006 Feb;106(2):211-8
references.pmid: 16442868
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 2006 Dec;106(12):2001-7
references.pmid: 17126631
references.citation: J Youth Adolesc. 2010 May;39(5):541-62
references.pmid: 19731001
references.citation: Health Educ Behav. 1997 Jun;24(3):369-87
references.pmid: 9158980
references.citation: Proc Nutr Soc. 2007 Feb;66(1):25-32
references.pmid: 17343769
references.citation: Psychol Rev. 1977 Mar;84(2):191-215
references.pmid: 847061
references.citation: J Nutr Educ Behav. 2006 Sep-Oct;38(5):321-3
references.pmid: 16966055
references.citation: Prev Med. 1993 Mar;22(2):167-77
references.pmid: 8483856
references.citation: South Med J. 1997 Aug;90(8):806-13
references.pmid: 9258307