The Impact of the Teen Cuisine Curriculum on the Health Belief Model and Dietary Behaviors
Crystal Wynn, PhD, RD; Precilla Belin, PhD, MCHES; Debra Jones, MPH; Andrew Wynn, MS; Olivia Allen, RD

Abstract
African American adolescents have the highest rate of obesity. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Teen Cuisine Curriculum on selected health-belief constructs and dietary behaviors on predominately African American adolescents. Twenty-five African American adolescents formed the purposive sample that completed the Healthy Eating Beliefs Survey and the Behavior Checklist. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 21.0 was used to conduct the t-test for dependent means to compare the pretest and posttest scores of participants. The findings from this study were not statistically significant. For perceived susceptibility, participants did not believe they were likely to become overweight in the future. For dietary behaviors, participants’ vegetable and whole-grain intake increased after the program. There was a disconnect between disease risk and lifestyle factors among adolescents. More research is needed to increase awareness of childhood obesity and its consequences among children and adolescents.

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