Teaching Nutrition Education and Cooking Self-Efficacy Through TikTok Videos: A Pilot Study

Childhood obesity is a major public health issue putting children and adolescents at risk of chronic diseases. Obesity now affects one in five children and adolescents in the United States (CDC, 2018). Research suggests that nutrition interventions promoting food preparation skills and nutrition literacy are effective methods to reduce the rates of obesity. The purpose of this project was to implement a pilot study to assess the feasibility of an online nutrition education program that was intended for in-person instruction. The study assessed the feasibility of online platforms including Zoom and Kahoots to teach nutrition knowledge and cooking self-efficacy to Latinx adolescents in Palmdale, CA. A curriculum intended for in-person instruction was developed based on the Cooking Matters Program consisting of hands-on activities to provide participants with the knowledge and skills that can increase cooking self-efficacy. This curriculum was evaluated by three experts in the fields of nutrition and public health to determine the effectiveness to improve adolescents' nutrition knowledge and cooking self-efficacy. Subsequently, the curriculum was intended to be implemented in-person at Palmdale High School among Latinx adolescents. However, due to the closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, a pilot study was implemented instead. The curriculum was modified and implemented through online instruction using Zoom as the method for instruction of nutrition lessons and Kahoots to administer a pre/post-test to determine changes in nutrition knowledge and cooking self-efficacy. The study also included social media to appeal to the tech savvy adolescents by incorporating the TikTok application. Participants created TikTok cooking videos to demonstrate the nutrition knowledge and cooking skills learned to promote healthy eating via social media. Results from the curriculum evaluation suggest that the curriculum content and activities are appropriate for adolescents. Results from the pilot study suggest an online nutrition education program is feasible and can be implemented in the future to further test the entire curriculum with a larger sample of Latinx adolescents.