The Influence of Cooking Activities on the Introduction of Healthy Food for Early Childhood Education

Introducing healthy foods is crucial for establishing healthy eating patterns and lifestyles in young children, but theoretical learning approaches are often ineffective in improving nutritional understanding. This study aimed to analyse the effectiveness of this activity quantitatively. Cooking meals increased the introduction of healthy foods in young children, including knowledge and interest. Using a single-group pretest-posttest design, this study involved 17 children aged 5-6 years from a preschool. Langit Biru, Bengkulu City. Data were collected through observations and healthy food recognition tests conducted before and after a four-week simple cooking intervention. The results showed a significant increase in the average score of healthy food recognition, from 2.34 (pre-test) to 3.68 (posttest), with a maximum score of 4 per indicator. A paired sample t-test revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01), with Cohen's d = 3.74 indicating a substantial intervention effect. These findings demonstrate that cooking activities are highly effective in enhancing children's understanding and interest in healthy food, thereby contributing to the development of a practice-based, active learning model in early childhood nutrition Education.