The Effects of the Cooking for One Curriculum on Nutrition, Food Safety, Food Resource Management, and Physical Activity Behaviors: A Pilot Study

The number of single adult households has increased over the previous decades, and few health education interventions address these unique living situations, which come with various economic challenges. The Cooking for One curriculum is a cooking-based intervention designed to improve nutrition, food safety, food resource management, and physical activity (PA) behaviors among single adults. This curriculum includes six lessons, each with an educational and hands-on cooking component. Participants included 1,546 adults recruited through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education programs in the state of Michigan. Each of the participants underwent the six-lesson Cooking for One curriculum. Prior to and following the intervention, nutrition, food safety, food resource management, PA behaviors, and food security were assessed. Pre- and post-changes in nutrition, food safety, food resource management, and PA behaviors were examined using a paired t-test. Results revealed that several behaviors related to nutrition, food safety, food resource management, and PA significantly improved following the Cooking for One intervention. However, reported food security did not change. These results suggest that the Cooking for One curriculum is an effective curriculum for single adults for improving various nutrition and PA behaviors.