Flint Kids Cook: Positive influence of a farmers' market cooking and nutrition programme on health-related quality of life of US children in a low-income, urban community

Objective: To examine changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among youth who participated in Flint Kids Cook, a 6-week healthy cooking programme for children, and assess whether changes in HRQoL were associated with changes in cooking self-efficacy, attitude towards cooking (ATC) and diet. Design: Pre-post survey (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Block Kids Food Screener, 8-item cooking self-efficacy, 6-item ATC) using child self-report at baseline and programme exit. Analysis involved paired sample t-tests and Pearson's correlations. Setting: Farmers' market in Flint, Michigan, USA. Participants: Children (n 186; 55.9 % female, 72.6 % African American) participated in Flint Kids Cook from October 2017 to February 2020 (mean age 10.55 ± 1.83 years; range 8-15). Results: Mean HRQoL summary score improved (P < 0.001) from baseline (77.22 ± 14.27) to programme exit (81.62 ± 14.43), as did mean psychosocial health summary score (74.68 ± 15.68 v. 79.04 ± 16.46, P = 0.001). Similarly, physical (P = 0.016), emotional (P = 0.002), social (P = 0.037), and school functioning (P = 0.002) improved. There was a correlation between change in HRQoL summary score and change in ATC (r = -0.194, P = 0.025) as well as change in cooking self-efficacy (r = -0.234, P = 0.008). Changes in HRQoL and psychosocial health summary scores were not correlated with dietary changes, which included decreased added sugar (P = 0.019) and fruit juice (P = 0.004) intake. Conclusions: This study is the first to report modest yet significant improvements in HRQoL among children and adolescents who participated in a healthy cooking programme. Results suggest that cooking programmes for youth may provide important psychosocial health benefits that are unrelated to dietary changes.