Degree Type

Honors Capstone Project

Date of Submission

Spring 5-1-2006

Capstone Advisor

Dr. Bradley Beran

Honors Reader

Chef Kimberly Johnson

Capstone Major

Hospitality Management

Capstone College

Sport and Human Dynamics

Audio/Visual Component

no

Capstone Prize Winner

no

Won Capstone Funding

no

Honors Categories

Creative

Subject Categories

Hospitality Administration and Management

Abstract

My thesis, “Cooking for Kids!”, follows the current trends in exploring the problem of childhood obesity. The epidemic of childhood obesity has been steadily climbing for the past two decades. The number of obese children has reached its highest ever with over 9 million children and adolescents being classified as overweight or obese. The weight problem stems from decreased physical activity in children and eating foods that are not nutritious.

My personal answer to the obesity problem was to create a cookbook for children ages 8-13. I intended for parents to use the cookbook as a way to teach the importance of healthy eating from an early age.

The cookbook has very simple and healthy step-by-step recipes for all meal periods. There are sections with recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and even a few beverages. I incorporated mostly new recipes using foods children eat most often, but I also included four personal recipes from my own childhood.

My initial goal for the project was to provide a tool for parents to promote better eating habits in their children. I believe what sets my project apart from other “Kid’s Cookbooks” is that rather than change what children were eating, which has proven to be unsuccessful, I chose another approach. I spoke to a few children to find out what they are eating most often and modified those foods to be more nutritionally balanced.

As the project developed I also decided I wanted to encourage children to experiment with new, different foods they may not be used to eating. Another side benefit is that children are able to interact with their parents and other siblings in a new way.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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