What’s cooking? Healthy Eating in Bolton and Goldthorpe

1. What’s cooking? Healthy Eating in Bolton and Goldthorpe Evaluating team Caroline Dryden, Jenny Owen, Geraldine Shipton and Parent Involvement Worker, Lisa Price

2. What’s cooking?: overview of study • Cook ‘n Eat course • Group feedback interviews: before and after • Parent Involvement Perspective • Consulting 3 & 4 year olds • What have we learned?

3. cook ‘n eat course • short course about cooking economical and healthy meals • parent Involvement worker invited 4 parents • the parents • cook ‘n eat 1x week • crèche workers: 3 children below 2 years • instructor from the 5-a-Day team advised parents about nutrition and cooking • course of 5 weeks but extended by a week --- shopping together & bargain-hunting for good cheap ingredients

4. Group feedback: before and after semi-structured interview with group after first session to get idea of interests and concerns of parents in relation to food a brief questionnaire which supplied demographic information about the participants second semi-structured interview after 5th week to gauge how the parents had experienced and valued opportunity debrief with parent involvement worker 5-a-Day evaluation sheet at the end

5. Main problems nowadays in feeding families • Uncertainty about what equals healthy eating • Concern about 'fussy eating’ in their children • Not knowing what they should cook for the family • Having the necessary cookery skills • Confusion about what were 'bad foods' to avoid after media scares. “They say eat this, then eat that and eat this, don’t eat that! Yeah not to eat liver! I like liver and they told you not to eat it when I were pregnant! …and then years ago when I had my last one, you ate liver! …Eat lots of liver!” Effect: • Mixed messages • Relationship between feeding family and self esteem/confidence • Family need to enjoy it for it to be ‘good enough’

6. Outcomes • Increased knowledge about food and cooking • A chance to sample foods not normally bought or cooked • More confident -trying new foods out on their children • Fun • Greater variety of cheap, healthy meals • Improved understanding of how important food is for child development • Liked working and socialising together • Father present developed his interest in play work

7. What was appreciated Parents appreciated the social and personal side You get a good feeling, thinking I've achieved summat! And were surprised at how interesting and enjoyable cooking could be However, there was a note of realism: If it wasn't for this, then I'd say I'd just be doing things I've always eaten…. I haven't got time… but when I've got time, when I go shopping, once a fortnight, I'll experiment Sometimes though you feel like cheating. … Personal, persistent encouragement of parent involvement worker was needed. Without her they felt they might not have to sustain a commitment to it. Future?

8. Food preferences of 3 and 4 year olds • A further small scale investigation was carried out into the food preferences of 3 and 4 year olds in the area, to test out whether or not some of the assumptions being made about food preferences were true of younger children in the 3-4 age range and to begin to consult children themselves in the process of evaluation

9. Who, what and where • Nursery staff identified the children and kept other intrigued children from getting too involved • 16 children in classroom, 3 adults and evaluator • Sample of 5 children selected • Consents sought • All white • 4 boys & 1 girl • Aged 3-4 • None overweight or noticeably thin • Varied in height

10. Choices

11. Food Child 1 Child 2 Child 3 Child 4 Child 5

12. Findings • No child from sample chose portions of apple, celery, white cheese, cucumber, or raw vegetables to eat • None chose water to drink • When all the children played some chose vegetables and all of food items were tasted, with some children preferring to drink water • All children liked chocolate wafers, bananas and crisps • Most liked grapes and sausage rolls and most preferred fizzy orange drink • Child 5 who was hesitant in choosing his foods was quite energetic in his grabbing the chocolate wafer!

13. Recommendations • Children as young as 3 and 4 can be consulted about their food preferences • Sure Start may wish to consider a larger scale evaluation of all the children starting nursery school over the next few years to see how food preferences are developing in the area • Cook n’ Eat was popular and could be rolled out to many more parents and thought could be given to a training course which is certificated for parents who want to go on to develop an interest in this area • Sure Start should consider training parents and workers to carry out this evaluation work with parents and children • The healthy eating agenda may not have reached fathers and other men who care for the under 4s in the area and needs to be considered in consultation with male inclusion worker