Miss Alex Mckenna1, Miss Maitilde Byrne-Kirk1, Prof Elizabeth Ward2,3
1South West Hospital and Health Service, Roma, Australia, 2Centre for Functioning & Health Research, Metro South Health, Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia, 3School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia
Biography:
Alex McKenna is the Community Nutritionist for South West Hospital and Health Service, currently on a Rural Development Pathway. Her work focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of preventative health initiatives, with a particular interest in the first 2000 days of life and food literacy. She completed a Bachelor of Dietetics at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where her honours focused on the development and validation of the Parent-Carer Food Choice Questionnaire. Alex is passionate about improving community health outcomes and addressing rural health disparities.
Abstract:
Cook and Connect is a place-based cooking program designed to address rising rates of food insecurity in rural and remote communities through food utilisation and literacy. The program aims to improve food literacy and confidence, ultimately reducing the risk of chronic disease later in life.
This pilot program based in Roma (MM 4), Southwest Queensland, targeted high school students (12-17 years) with support from teaching staff. The evaluation measured pre-post confidence of participants in cooking and understanding nutrition, if the participant had cooked a meal in the previous week and gathered qualitative feedback from participants and teaching staff about the impact they thought the program had.
Rural and remote communities face heightened rates of diet-related chronic disease due to factors like food access, availability and utilisation. Food insecurity affects 4-14% of the population of Australia, reaching up to 83% in disadvantaged areas. Rural residents are 33% more likely to experience food insecurity. These challenges underscore the need for localised interventions.
Cook and Connect, supported by a community nutritionist, ran weekly for five weeks with 8 participants. Participants reported those who had cooked a meal for themselves in the last week increased from 25% to 63%. A 94% increase in participant confidence related to cooking and nutrition was also reported using a 10-point Likert scale. Qualitative feedback identified the program strengthened social connections between participants and teachers reported boosted confidence. Strategies to support the future scale of the program include building community capacity to deliver Cook and Connect across Southwest communities.