(P28-023-23) Development and Pilot Testing of Short Education Videos To Improve Knowledge, Confidence, and Intent To Use Herbs and Spices To Reduce Saturated Fat, Sugar, and Salt in Cooking

Objectives: To develop, in partnership with Penn State Extension, and evaluate, via an online longitudinal experiment, short educational videos designed to increase knowledge, confidence, and intention to use herbs and spices to reduce the use of sodium, saturated fat (SFA) and added sugars in at home cooking.

Methods: Two projects were conducted. Project 1 used a webinar developed by Penn State Extension and the Department of Nutritional Sciences to collect feedback via a post-webinar survey to inform the development of several short videos for evaluation. Project 2 used the short videos from Project 1 for an intervention designed to assess changes in knowledge, confidence, and intention to use herbs and spices in cooking to reduce sodium, SFA, and added sugars in at-home cooking. Participants completed a pre-and post-survey before and after watching the short videos. They also completed 3 ASA24 diet recalls pre-and post-intervention.

Results: In Project 1, 163 individuals responded to the post-webinar survey. When considering knowledge and confidence in using herbs and spices pre-webinar vs. post-webinar, participants reported significant increases (all p= < 0.001) for all knowledge and confidence variables. On average, participants increased knowledge and confidence by about 1 full point on a 4-point scale. In Project 2, an online sample of 103 participants completed study protocols. Participants significantly increased post compared to pre scores for all knowledge and confidence questions and for two of the intention questions (intention to decrease SFA and sodium) (p=0.03 to p< 0.001 for all scores).

Conclusions: Project 1 demonstrated that the several short educational videos that were developed improved consumer knowledge about using herbs and spices to decrease the use of sugar, SFA, and sodium in at-home cooking. Project 2 demonstrated that these materials, in an online sample, successfully increased consumer knowledge and confidence in the use of herbs and spices.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by the McCormick Science Institute.