Fuel for Fun Process Evaluation Reveals Strong Implementation and Approval with Varied Parent Engagement.

Objective: To describe the implementation and process characteristics of Fuel for Fun: Cooking with Kids Plus Parents and Play (FFF).

Design: Mixed methods.

Setting: Elementary schools in 2 Northern Colorado school districts.

Participants: Fourth graders (aged 9-11 years), parents, school staff, and implementation researchers; measured over 2 consecutive years in 8 schools (851 students, 45 classrooms).

Intervention(s): Social Cognitive and active learning theory-based classroom cooking with tasting lessons, active recess games, cooking with tasting food promotion during school lunch, family nights, and take-home intervention reinforcements. A 7-month program delivered by a trained intervention team.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Implementation measures (observations and debriefings) assessed context, reach, dose delivered, fidelity, and dose received; process measures (surveys) assessed student and parent perceptions and intervention participation.

Analysis: Descriptive statistics for quantitative and themes for qualitative data.

Results: Minor adjustments in program delivery plans were required to accommodate changes in school schedules and policies. Process measures demonstrated > 90% achievement of goals for nearly all child-centered activities. One-quarter of eligible families participated in evening events, with strong parent and student approval. Fifty out of 116 parents (43%) completing an online survey reported preparing ≥ 1 of 5 recipes with their child. Fifty-nine percent of eligible students completed >1 of 10 take-home activity sheets with their parents.

Conclusions And Implications: Engagement and commitment of the intervention team and school staff supported strong implementation. Participant responses were positive, but improvement in parent engagement requires investigation.