PCOM Teaching Kitchen: Teaching the Mediterranean Diet to Promote Community Health

Objectives: In this study, we conducted surveys in a population of patients from PCOM Health care Centers (n=177), to determine the impact of an interactive educational food demonstration on participants’ eating habits and nutrition knowledge. The demonstration aimed to teach fundamental nutrition knowledge as well as recipes which follow the Mediterranean Diet, a widely accepted practice that has shown to reduce the risk of and improve chronic illnesses including cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Methods: In-person tests before and after the demonstration gauged changes in participants’ knowledge of nutritional principles and 1-month and 3-month follow-up phone call surveys were used to determine changes in eating behaviors. Results: Post-test scores were significantly higher following the food demonstration (p< 0.001) and reported intake of whole grains was significantly higher 1-month after the food demonstration (p < 0.05). Additionally, 16.9% of participants at 1-month and 8.5% at 3-months after the demonstration reported that the food demonstration significantly influenced their food choices. Conclusions: The findings from this study show value in in-person demonstrations and should be applied to health care education and efforts towards increasing food literacy to promote healthy behaviors. Funding Sources: Division of Research at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine