Art on a Plate: A Pilot Evaluation of an International Initiative Designed to Promote Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables by Children.

Objective: To evaluate the 2016 International Chefs Day cooking workshops Art on a Plate.

Design: Nonexperimental pretest-posttest design SETTING: Art on a Plate workshops with children from 14 countries in Asia, America, and Europe.

Participants: A total of 433 workshop participants aged 4-14 years (mean age, 8.6 years).

Intervention: Instructed by a chef, children in the workshops created a self-chosen design on their plate with a spinach-fruit salad.

Main Outcome Measures: Before and after the workshop, a questionnaire assessing liking and willingness to eat or taste; hunger was assessed using the Teddy the Bear method and emotions were assessed using the Self-assessment Manikin. The event coordinator evaluated salad intake.

Analysis: Linear and generalized linear (logit) mixed models were used to test statistical differences before and after the workshop.

Results: The workshop resulted in a small increase in liking (n = 409; P = .02) and person control (n = 375; P < .001) and a decrease in hunger (n = 379; P < .001). A total of 30% of children increased their liking scores, 18% decreased them, and 52% did not change them. Significant associations of liking and change in liking with salad intake were in the expected direction.

Conclusion And Implications: This study showed the positive effect of a cooking workshop on children's salad liking across a selection of countries worldwide. Further research and novel methods are needed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of cooking activities in real-life settings across countries.