Sumpter Sarah, Dawson Ruth, Dawson Nick, Nancheva Nevena, Ranta Ronald, Bhakta Dee, Mulrooney Hilda
School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy & Chemistry, Kingston University, London, UK.
Voices of Hope, Kingston, London, UK.
J Hum Nutr Diet. 2025 Apr;38(2):e70038. doi: 10.1111/jhn.70038.
Dietary intakes in UK children fail to meet national recommendations, especially in low-income groups. Involving children in food preparation and cooking may enhance acceptability of a wider range of foods, enhance their skills and increase their enjoyment of food. An innovative recipe meal kit scheme, Building Resilience in Today's Environment (BRITE) Box, was developed during the pandemic primarily to address food insecurity (FI). Administered via schools, it offers pre-weighed ingredients sufficient for a meal for a family of five, plus a child-focused recipe, weekly during school termtimes.
Qualitative and quantitative exploration of BRITE Box using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews among parents/carers of children receiving the boxes was conducted at two timepoints a year apart.
A total of 154 parents/carers completed questionnaires and 29 were interviewed. Responses indicated multiple benefits of the scheme, including increased confidence in cooking among both children and parents/carers. Both questionnaire responses and interviews suggested improvements in a range of food-related behaviours, including cooking and eating together and talking more about food. Parents/carers suggested that their children were more willing to eat vegetables and healthy foods and to try new foods and flavours. They also reported greater use of leftovers thereby potentially reducing food waste. Improved behaviours, willingness to try new foods and flavours, reduced food waste and lower stress of trying to think of new and acceptable family meals are likely to have contributed to the positive impact on their mental health reported by BRITE Box parents/carers.
Meal kits for children may improve dietary diversity, enhance enjoyment and skills and impact positively on a range of family food-related behaviours. We argue that BRITE Box has the potential for widespread positive impacts on cooking and food-related behaviours in children and families, meriting wider study and dissemination as a positive approach to healthy eating in children.
英国儿童的饮食摄入量未达到国家建议标准，尤其是在低收入群体中。让儿童参与食物准备和烹饪可能会提高他们对更多种类食物的接受度，提升他们的技能，并增加他们对食物的喜爱。在疫情期间，一项创新的食谱餐盒计划——“在当今环境中增强复原力”（BRITE）餐盒应运而生，主要目的是解决粮食不安全问题。该计划通过学校实施，在学期期间每周提供一次预先称重的食材，足够一个五口之家做一顿饭，外加一份以儿童为中心的食谱。
在相隔一年的两个时间点，对接受餐盒的儿童的家长/照料者进行问卷调查和半结构化访谈，对BRITE餐盒进行定性和定量探索。
共有154名家长/照料者完成了问卷调查，29人接受了访谈。调查结果表明该计划有多重益处，包括儿童和家长/照料者烹饪信心的增强。问卷调查和访谈都显示，一系列与食物相关的行为有所改善，包括一起做饭和吃饭以及更多地谈论食物。家长/照料者表示，他们的孩子更愿意吃蔬菜和健康食品，并尝试新的食物和口味。他们还报告说，剩饭的利用率更高，从而有可能减少食物浪费。行为改善、愿意尝试新食物和口味、减少食物浪费以及想出新的且可接受的家庭餐的压力降低，可能都对BRITE餐盒的家长/照料者报告的心理健康产生了积极影响。
儿童餐盒可能会改善饮食多样性，提升乐趣和技能，并对一系列与家庭食物相关的行为产生积极影响。我们认为，BRITE餐盒有可能对儿童和家庭的烹饪及与食物相关的行为产生广泛的积极影响，作为一种促进儿童健康饮食的积极方法，值得进行更广泛的研究和推广。
