Modern Home Cooking Practices, the Role of New Media, and Implications for Culinary Medicine: A Qualitative Study Among Mothers With Low Income

Abstract

Culinary medicine offers a practical, experiential approach to nutrition education, but in-person programs are resources intensive. Digital interventions may offer a scalable, acceptable approach to culinary medicine in populations that are at increased risk for poor diet, such as parents with low income. The purpose of this study was to examine modern home cooking behavior and the role of new media from the perspective of parents with low income and identify implications for culinary medicine research. Twenty parents from 6- to 11-year-old children that qualify for free/reduced school lunch programs completed a survey and interview examining online cooking information seeking behaviors, current cooking practices, and factors that influence healthy eating. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a semi-structured hybrid coding approach. Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) Current cooking habits and environment; (2) Factors that influence healthy cooking; and (3) The role of the internet in home cooking. This research may be used to inform the creation of digital culinary medicine intervention tools to promote healthy eating in this population.