Features of interactive recipes that support college students’ self-efficacy in preparing produce

Introduction: College students often struggle with produce intake due to factors including limited kitchen access, lack of culinary skills, nutrition knowledge, time, and money. Previous research identified recipe videos as useful for improving college students’ self-efficacy in the kitchen and in preparing healthy but less-familiar food items including fresh produce provided by a campus food pantry or garden. The purpose of the current project was to develop and test an interactive, student-friendly recipe book and gather feedback about additional resources that may help students increase self-efficacy in preparing produce. Methods: The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning was used to create brief cooking videos for a recipe book featuring common ingredients from a campus garden and food pantry. A short survey assessed nutrition self-efficacy and gathered feedback about the book and resources students felt would be most helpful. Results: Average daily vegetable intake was 2.05 ± 1.53 servings per day (n = 20). Mean self-efficacy in preparing produce shown on the book’s cover was 5.10 ± 1.37 before vs. 5.86 ± 0.864 after viewing the book (p = 0.104, effect size 0.190, n = 14). Students believed the interactive book was helpful and recommended both web-based and printed materials as future resources. Discussion: Interactive recipe books may help college students use produce, and feedback from this study can help inform development of education materials for public health nutrition interventions for this population. Research should explore long-term impact of the recipe book across a larger population and with other interactive tools that may support produce consumption.