ASPO Abstracts
Healthy cooking practices are not associated with the carotenoid content of home-prepared meals: implications for food preparation interventions among childhood cancer survivors and their families.
Category: Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention
Conference Year: 2020
Abstract Body:
Healthy home cooking programs are an increasingly popular approach to nutrition education
and have the potential to promote diet quality among childhood cancer survivors (CCS). A
cornerstone of many programs is the use of fresh fruits and vegetables, which may support
increased intake of many components, including carotenoids, to improve survivor health. As
most carotenoids in the US currently come from processed vegetables, however, it is
unclear if the incorporation of fresh fruits and vegetables is associated with carotenoid
content of meals. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between
practices commonly taught in healthy cooking classes and the carotenoid content of
prepared meals. This is a secondary analysis of an observational study examining the
quality of home cooking practices using an evidence-based index of behaviors. Parents with
one CCS or non-CCS school-aged child were recruited for this study. Evening meal
preparation events were observed in participant homes and cooking practices examined and
quantified. Prepared meal nutrition, including total and individual carotenoid content was
assessed.Forty parent-child dyads participated in this study including 11 CCS and 29 non-
CCS families. Nutrition optimizing cooking practices, as quantified by the Healthy Cooking
Index, were not associated with the carotenoid content of meals. Further, total fruit and
vegetable content of meals was not associated with total carotenoids, indicating
heterogeneity in the carotenoid profiles of foods used in this population. High carotenoid
meals tended to use more canned and/or frozen tomato and vegetable products, and
carotenoid content was associated with meals with greater total refined grain and sweetener
content. This analysis informs the future development of healthy cooking curricula for CCS
and their families. Our findings indicate an opportunity to promote skills that couple both
overall healthy cooking practices and the thoughtful incorporation of high carotenoid food
products. Carefully designed cooking education programs have the potential to translate
dietary guidelines, including the consumption of colorful carotenoid-rich fruits and
vegetables, into practical skills that support long-term
Keywords: childhood cancer, survivorship, nutrition