Cooking Interventions for Improving Diet Quality Among Black Americans: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This article focuses on evaluating a cooking instruction intervention, grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), aimed at improving diet quality and cooking behaviors among Black adults in the USA, a population disproportionately affected by obesity and related health disparities. In an online randomized study with 140 Black American participants, exposure to a culturally tailored cooking tutorial video increased intentions to cook, which correlated positively with cooking behavior over the following week, although no significant effects were found for an added implementation intentions writing activity. The study highlights the importance of addressing food insecurity—reported by 75% of participants—as a critical factor in dietary interventions and suggests that accessible video-based cooking interventions may be a promising approach to enhance diet quality and reduce obesity-related health disparities in this population. Further research is recommended to optimize intervention content, duration, and long-term effectiveness while considering cultural relevance and socioeconomic barriers.