Topical Area: Obesity, Aging and Chronic Disease
Objectives :
College students with overweight/obesity previously reported a lack of confidence in meal planning/production, which may contribute to current weight status and subsequent weight gain. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine cooking beliefs of students with overweight/obesity from different environments and 2) assess interest in a culinary-focused, weight loss program.
Methods : Students with overweight or obesity (BMI >25), ages 18-24, enrolled in New York University (NYU) or LaGuardia Community College (LCC) were recruited. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey that included: 1) Cooking Attitudes Subscale, 2) Cooking Behaviors Subscale, 3) Cooking Self-Efficacy Scale (SEC), 4) Self-Efficacy for Using Basic Cooking Techniques Scale (SECT) and 5) a culinary program preference questionnaire. Height and weight were objectively measured. Descriptive, Chi square, Kruskal-Wallis, and post hoc Dunn test statistics were conducted.
Results : Students (N=91; 19.6±1.6 years; BMI 31.7±5.6) were 64% female and 24% non-Hispanic. Institution type was associated with ethnicity (P=0.03), with a higher percentage of non-Hispanic students from NYU. NYU students had a significantly lower BMI (P=0.01) and were younger (P=0.005). There was a significant difference in the Cooking Behaviors Subscale between institutions, with NYU students having overall lower scores (P=0.0001). For LCC, there was a significant difference in BMI between the lowest and third quartiles of SECT scores (P=0.04); students with a higher BMI had lower scores. At NYU, there was a significant difference in BMI between the lowest and second (P=0.004) and third (P=0.01) quartiles of the Cooking Behaviors Subscale; the lowest quartile had a higher mean BMI. Regardless of institution, the majority of students were interested in participating in a culinary-focused weight loss program for 6-8 weeks. However, NYU students reported a greater interest in weekly group meetings (P=0.0001).
Conclusions : There is heterogeneity in cooking beliefs by college environment and BMI. However, interest in a culinary-focused, weight loss program is high for both 2- and 4-year tertiary institution students with overweight/obesity. Focus groups will be used for the development of population specific interventions.
Funding Sources : NYU College of Arts and Science Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund Grant (Spring 2018)
Miriam Mahmood
New York University
Jennifer Kleiman
New York University
Rachel Ryan
New York University
Kayla Wong
New York University
Ronald Lu
New York University
Yufei Chen
New York University
Devika Bodas
New York University
Quinn Haisley
LaGuardia Community College
Kelly Abdelmassih
LaGuardia Community College
Nicolle Fernandes
LaGuardia Community College
Jessica Bihuniak
New York University
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