# Improvement in Adherence to Mediterranean Diet, Cooking and Food Skills Among University Students Attending a “Teaching Kitchen” Project: Results from the S.A.P.O.R.E. Initiative

## TL;DR

A teaching kitchen program at a university improved students' cooking skills, food skills, and Mediterranean diet adherence, with high satisfaction and low costs.

## Contribution

A low-cost teaching kitchen program effectively enhanced university students' cooking and food skills and their adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

## Key findings

- Cooking and food skills scores significantly increased after the program.
- Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet improved as measured by the MediLite score.
- Participants showed high satisfaction with the program and its low cost per meal.

## Abstract

Background: The aim of the S.A.P.O.R.E. (Sustainable And Pocket friendly Options for nutritious and Responsible Eating) initiative was to offer students attending the University of Brescia a teaching kitchen programme to develop cooking and food skills (CS and FS) and promote healthy food choices. Methods: The course was structured in four weekly lessons, and both before and after, participants were asked to anonymously complete validated questionnaires to assess CS and FS, adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) and dietary fibre intake. Levels of competence and satisfaction were assessed at the end of the course. Results: Twenty-eight students completed the course. Mean CS and FS scores significantly increased, from 56.1 ± 19.8 to 68.0 ± 16.5 (score range 0–98, p < 0.001) and from 92.7 ± 22.4 to 104.3 ± 21.0 (score range 0–133; p = 0.012), respectively. The MediLite score significantly increased from 9.43 ± 2.77 to 10.9 ± 2.06 (p = 0.006). The mean daily dietary fibre intake increased slightly from 17.8 ± 8.4 to 19.2 ± 7.1 g. More than 70% of participants correctly answered the questionnaire about acquired competence. The average cost for a single meal was EUR 1.50 ± 0.60, and the mean level of students’ satisfaction was 4.4 out of 5. Conclusions: This initiative was significantly associated with improvement in CS, FS and adherence to MD, but not in fibre intake.