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Objective\ud Young adults are often faced with barriers to cooking their own food. These barriers are associated with poor diet. The aim of this study was to explore the factor structure of the Brazilian Cooking Skills and Healthy Eating Questionnaire (BCSQ) to identify the barriers to cooking, use, and consumption of fruits and vegetables by young adults.\ud \ud Methods\ud Data were collected from a baseline study with Brazilian university students (N = 767). Forty-eight items from the BCSQ (composed of the following scales: Cooking Attitude, Cooking Behavior, Produce Consumption Self-Efficacy, Cooking Self-Efficacy, Self-Efficacy in Using Cooking Techniques, and Self-Efficacy in Using Fruits, Vegetables, and Seasonings) were submitted to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (ten fit indexes), and internal consistency reliability evaluation. Multilevel linear regression models were used to analyze variations on the BCSQ dimensions by sex, living arrangements, knowledge of how to cook, location of main meal, and time available for cooking.\ud \ud Results\ud The 20-item BCSQ showed good fit indexes. The items based on negative cooking attitudes, frequency of using leftovers, and self-efficacy related to cooking from scratch, using and eating fruits and vegetables were adequate for the evaluation of cooking skills. These items represent and reflect the health dimensions applied to this research. The self-efficacy in using cooking techniques, which was not validated in previous study scale, was excluded due to its dimension.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud These results enabled us to shorten the BCSQ, which can be used to evaluate the barriers to cooking among young adults, as well as measuring their healthy eating practices, supporting future research and programs.

This study examines the experiences of teachers in the Republic of Ireland, as agents of the pedagogic device, in enacting curriculum policy at the micro level of the classroom. It explores their enactment of policy at a time of significant curriculum reform of junior secondary school education. Drawing upon the findings of in-depth interviews with teachers, this study integrates Bernstein’s Theory of ‘Pedagogic Device’ with Ball’s concept of ‘policy enactment’ and ‘policy actor’ and provides valuable insights into the development of curriculum policy at the macro level and how this is translated and enacted at the micro classroom level. It explores teachers’ experiences in translating the subject knowledge and pedagogical practices in the classroom and how these align to the official curriculum policy. Moreover, the study provides an insight into the correlation between the classification and framing of a subject and its perceived status among teachers and students. Particularly, the balance between the common and esoteric discourses and how this has a strong influence on the positioning of subjects in a school is explored.

Recently, there has been an intensification of calls for comprehensive food education curriculum in schools. Despite this, there is limited international comparative data on the provision of food education. This study uses a comparative case study approach to analyse second-level food education curriculum policy across seven countries. It explores curriculum policy regarding the status of food education, nomenclature and the pedagogical and philosophical approaches. In six of the seven countries, Home Economics is identified as the school subject which teaches practical food education. Coherence in the discourse and pedagogical approaches is evident; however, disparity between countries exists as to whether the subject is optional or mandatory. The authors conclude that food education should form part of the curriculum, but rather than a piecemeal approach, they recommend it be taught, by specialist teachers, in an integrated, sequential and developmentally appropriate manner through an established subject such as Home Economics.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze meal preparation and the place of its consumption by university students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to their individual characteristics and cooking skills. \ud \ud METHODS: Data were collected with 1919 Brazilian university students using the Brazilian Cooking Skills Questionnaire (BCSQ) and questions about gender, living arrangement, knowing how to cook and location of meal consumption. Bayesian multilevel ordinal regression models were used to estimate the probabilities of meal preparation and local location of its consumption by Brazilian university students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to their individual characteristics and cooking skills. \ud \ud RESULTS: Most of participants showed reported a high level of cooking skills (70.7%). Also, they reported a decrease in ordering delivery of take-away food and eating fast-food, while increasing homemade meals with fresh ingredients, ultra-processed food or both during the pandemic compared to the period before the quarantine. Lastly, they increased their cooking frequency during the pandemic, regardless of their cooking skills level. However, the group with high cooking skills had a greater increase in the use of fresh ingredients. \ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that the pandemic was an opportunity for university students to increase their cooking skills and frequency of cooking at home with a variety of foods. Particular attention should be given to those with low cooking skills and that use ultra-processed foods, promoting interventions to disseminate information and with behavior change components to teach about healthy cooking to increase cooking knowledge and skills, focusing on preparation of fresh ingredients.

The study described the cross-cultural adaptation process of the American Cooking Skills and Healthy Eating questionnaire to Brazil. Six stages were followed: Translation; Synthesis of translations; Back-translations; Expert Committee; Synthesis of final version; and the Pretest (self-administered online questionnaire in a Brazilian University). Participants responded to the translated questionnaire twice for test-retest. Conceptual, item, semantic, operational and measurement equivalences were evaluated between original and translated questionnaires, as well as the internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Item, conceptual, semantic equivalences between original and Brazilian questionnaires were reached before the Expert Committee stage. Specific cooking techniques and terms were adapted. Forty-eight students answered the questionnaire in the pre-test stage, achieving the operational and measurement equivalences with kappa’s agreement from moderate to substantial, and satisfactory to excellent correlations between measures. Only two measures showed low internal consistency. The combination of stages and equivalences approaches used in this cross cultural adaptation study provided lessons for further Nutrition’s researches, disclosing the complexity of cooking skills concepts. Resumo O estudo descreveu o processo de adaptação transcultural do questionário estadunidense de avaliação das habilidades culinárias e alimentação saudável para o Brasil. Seis estágios foram conduzidos: Tradução; Síntese da tradução; Retrotradução; Comitê de Juízes; Síntese da versão final; e Pré-teste (preenchimento do questionário online). Participantes responderam duas vezes ao questionário traduzido. Equivalências conceitual, do item, semântica, operacional e de mensuração foram avaliadas entre os questionários original e traduzido, bem como a consistência interna e a confiabilidade teste-reteste. Alcançaram-se as equivalências do item, conceitual e semântica entre as versões antes do Comitê de Juízes. Técnicas e termos culinários específicos foram adaptados. Quarenta e oito estudantes responderam o questionário no pré-teste, alcançando equivalências operacional e de mensuração, concordância kappa moderada a substancial, e correlações entre as medidas satisfatórias a excelentes. Duas escalas apresentaram baixa consistência interna. A combinação das abordagens dos estágios e equivalências usadas na adaptação transcultural do questionário proveu lições para futuras pesquisas em Nutrição, revelando a complexidade dos conceitos de habilidades culinárias.

This paper is a historical review, documenting the evolution of Home Economics as a subject in Irish primary and post-primary education from the 1800s to the twenty-first century. In the 1800s and early twentieth-century domestic subjects, including cookery, was widely taught to females in both primary and post-primary schools. The philosophical underpinning of the subject was to enhance the quality of life for families. The subject remained a popular choice for young women up until the establishment of the Irish Free State which, thereafter, witnessed many changes in the teaching of cookery and domestic science in primary and post-primary schools. The core ideology of the subject has remained relevant and it aims to provide students with knowledge, practical skills, understanding and attitudes for everyday life as individuals and as family members. This reflects the richness of the subject from the past and the relevance of the subject in addressing issues of a twenty-first century society.

This pandemic oversees the worst economic decline for almost 300 years,1 which will widen existing health inequalities.2 This has resulted in rising poverty levels and increasing numbers of people claiming state benefits, with probable knock-on effects for food insecurity and fuel poverty. This is on top of ongoing cuts to public services and welfare provisions, as well as rising unemployment. Some patient groups are more likely to suffer economic hardship, for example, those living with and beyond cancer are likely to experience ‘financial toxicity’ — the economic effects of cancer treatment. Since primary care is community facing, should primary care practitioners screen for poverty during routine interactions with patients? If so, does poverty screening fulfil ‘screening criteria’? An updated version3 of Wilson and Jungner’s 1968 classic screening criteria provides a basis for debate about screening for poverty in primary care (Box 1). | | || Box 1. Andermann and colleagues’ updated screening criteria for the genomic age3 There is no doubt that there is a tangible need at a local and population level …

The study aim was to investigate the role of foodbanks in the context of food insecurity and explore food choices and eating behaviours amongst users. Food insecurity is associated with poor diet quality and obesity; however, the dimensions that influence food choices and eating behaviour remain unclear. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with individuals who had visited a faith-based foodbank in Perth, Western Australia. Participants were thirty-three service users who had collected a food hamper from the foodbank. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four main themes emerged: Ties you over until pay day; Food hamper supporting meals and fruit and vegetable consumption; Food choices supplementing hamper; Household gatekeeping and food control. Participants were complimentary about the content of the food hamper received which included a variety of fresh produce. A key new finding was the frequent purchase and consumption of meat and processed meat to supplement the food hamper provision. Future work and interventions to improve eating behaviour and reduce food-related financial pressure for those vulnerable to food insecurity include further exploration of the dimensions influencing food choices (i.e., cultural norms, habits, symbols); exposure to healthy and tasty plant-based meals, (i.e., tasting low-cost and tasty vegetable-based meals); parenting training focused on handling child/partner food choice influences, and, enforcing household rules governing food.

This chapter will help you understand: the relationships between international policy and policy action at multiple levels; why public health practitioners should build an international dimension into their work; how to influence and advance public health internationally, even through local action. The chapter uses examples from the world of food and health policy (on which the authors work) to illustrate the structures and processes of engagement you may encounter. In the policy worlds of both global public health and food, there is a mix of improvement and threats, inequalities alongside progress, fragmentation, and coherence. Similar trends in the global South and developed countries may have underlying drivers at work, resulting in the double burden of disease. It is preferable to ensure that international policies tackle rather than ignore those determinants.

This commentary sets Caplan’s arguments about food banks and food poverty in the broader context of changes to the welfare state, the ‘charitization’ of state welfare and the need to address food poverty within a framework of dignity rather than charity.

Home Economics education aims to provide a comprehensive, applied and practical experiential learning environment for studying food education. This chapter will discuss Home Economics secondary school education in two jurisdictions on the Island of Ireland—the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The educational rationale, aims and underlying pedagogical approaches to teaching Home Economics in educational policy in both jurisdictions will be explored and comparative case study similarities and differences highlighted. The Home Economics curricula at secondary schools vary between jurisdictions and this provides the basis of the analysis. The chapter concludes by detailing how Home Economics education can contribute to the systematic development and practical application of food skills, knowledge and competencies.

ObjectiveThe present study explored recipients’ perceptions of food charity and their suggested improvements in inner-city Perth, Western Australia.DesignIn-depth interviews were conducted with charitable food service (CFS) recipients. Transcripts were thematically analysed using a phenomenological approach.SettingInterviews were conducted at two CFS in inner-city Perth.SubjectsFourteen adults.ResultsThe recipients’ journeys to a reliance on CFS were varied and multifactorial, with poverty, medical issues and homelessness common. The length of time recipients had relied on food charity ranged from 8 months to over 40 years. Most were ‘grateful yet resigned’, appreciative of any food and resigned to the poor quality, monotony and their unmet individual preferences. They wanted healthier food, more variety and better quality. Accessing services was described as a ‘full-time job’ fraught with unreliable information and transport difficulties. They called for improved information and assistance with transport. ‘Eroded dignity’ resulted from being fed without any choice and queuing for food in public places, often in a volatile environment. ‘Food memories and inclusion’ reflected a desire for commensality. Recipients suggested services offer choice and promote independence, focusing on their needs both physical and social.ConclusionsAlthough grateful, long-term CFS recipients described what constitutes a voluntary failure. Their service improvement recommendations can help meet their nutritional and social needs. A successful CFS provides a food service that prioritises nutritious, good-quality food and individual need, while promoting dignity and social inclusion, challenging in the current Australian context.

The promotion of home cooking is a strategy used to improve diet quality and health. However, modern home cooking typically includes the use of processed food which can lead to negative outcomes including weight gain. In addition, interventions to improve cooking skills do not always explain how theory informed their design and implementation. The Behaviour Change Technique (BCT) taxonomy successfully employed in other areas has identified essential elements for interventions. This study investigated the effectiveness of different instructional modes for learning to cook a meal, designed using an accumulating number of BCTs, on participant's perceived difficulty, enjoyment, confidence and intention to cook from basic ingredients.\ud \ud 141 mothers aged between 20 and 39 years from the island of Ireland were randomised to one of four conditions based on BCTs (1) recipe card only [control condition]; (2) recipe card plus video modelling; (3) recipe card plus video prompting; (4) recipe card plus video elements. Participants rated their enjoyment, perceived difficulty, confidence and intention to cook again pre, mid and post experiment. Repeated one-way factorial ANOVAs, correlations and a hierarchical regression model were conducted.\ud \ud Despite no significant differences between the different conditions, there was a significant increase in enjoyment (P

Inadequate social protection, stagnant wages, unemployment, and homelessness are associated with Australian household food insecurity. Little is known about the recipients of food charity and whether their needs are being met. This cross-sectional study of 101 food charity recipients in Perth, Western Australia, measured food security, weight status, sociodemographic characteristics and food acquisition practices. Seventy-nine percent were male, aged 21&ndash, 79 years, 90% were unemployed, 87% received social assistance payments, and 38% were homeless. Ninety-one percent were food insecure, 80% with hunger, and 56% had gone a day or more without eating in the previous week. Fifty-seven percent had used food charity for &ge, 1 year, and, of those, 7.5 years was the mode. Charitable services were the main food source in the previous week, however 76% used multiple sources. Begging for money for food (36%), begging for food (32%), stealing food or beverages (34%), and taking food from bins (28%) was commonplace. The omnipresence and chronicity of food insecurity, reliance on social security payments, and risky food acquisition suggest that both the social protection and charitable food systems are failing. Urgent reforms are needed to address the determinants of food insecurity (e.g., increased social assistance payments, employment and housing support) and the adequacy, appropriateness and effectiveness of food charity.

As the primary source of learning cooking skills, it is vital to understand what mothers think about the transference of cooking skills to their children. The current analysis aimed to highlight mothers&rsquo, perceptions of children&rsquo, s involvement and cooking practices within the home setting. Sixteen focus group discussions were conducted on the island of Ireland (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland [UK]) with 141 mothers aged 20&ndash, 39 years old. All focus groups were transcribed verbatim and an inductive thematic analysis using NVivo software was undertaken. Seven themes emerged from the dataset, (1) &ldquo, How we learned to cook&rdquo, (2) &ldquo, Who&rsquo, s the boss&rdquo, (3) &ldquo, Children in the way&rdquo, (4) &ldquo, Keep kids out&rdquo, (5) &ldquo, Involvement means eating&rdquo, (6) &ldquo, Intentions versus reality&rdquo, and (7) &ldquo, Kids&rsquo, &lsquo, interest&rsquo, in cooking&rdquo, These themes illustrate a lack of cooking skill transference in relation to everyday meal preparation in modern times. The culture of children in the kitchen has vastly changed, and opportunities for children to learn basic skills are currently limited. Further research is required to confirm the findings that emerged from this analysis.

This chapter examines the global food retail and distribution situation with a specific focus on supermarkets. We explore the power and control that supermarkets have over the food supply chain, not only control over consumers (culture, choice and health) but also the control that supermarket buying desks have over food that is grown and produced via contracts and contract specifications. We focus on the UK and Australia, two countries which present overlapping and contrasting case studies of opportunities and barriers to changes in food provision. We suggest that the likely future trends shaping grocery and supermarket expansion will come in the virtual world of internet ordering and delivery. Lastly, we recommend the need for food retail and distribution to shift away from a ‘productionist’ paradigm to an ecologically-integrated approach providing an opportunity to transform food retail and distribution towards a business model that is supportive of a healthy and sustainable food system.

Australian governments routinely monitor population household food insecurity (FI) using a single measure—‘running out of food at least once in the previous year’. To better inform public health planning, a synthesis of the determinants and how they influence and modify each other in relation to FI was conducted. The analysis used data from the Health &amp, Wellbeing Surveillance System cross-sectional dataset. Weighted means and multivariable weighted logistic regression described and modelled factors involved in FI. The analysis showed the direction and strength of the factors and a path diagram was constructed to illustrate these. The results showed that perceived income, independent of actual income was a strong mediator on the path to FI as were obesity, smoking and other indicators of health status. Eating out three or more times a week and eating no vegetables more strongly followed FI than preceded it. The analysis identified a range of factors and demonstrated the complex and interactive nature of them. Further analysis using propensity score weighted methods to control for covariates identified hypothetical causal links for investigation. These results can be used as a proof of concept to assist public health planning.