Integrating Nutrition Education in Culinary Curricula: A Narrative Review from Puerto Rico

Author(s): Christian Rivera Medina

Objective: To synthesize recent evidence on whether integrating nutrition education into culinary curricula is associated with improved diet quality and related competencies among culinary arts students in Puerto Rico, and to identify theory-based mediators, barriers, and research gaps. Design: Narrative review with transparent search and screening procedures aligned with PRISMA 2020 guidance. Databases: PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science (January–September 2025). Inclusion focused on studies (2020–2025) involving culinary/gastronomy students and outcomes related to nutrition knowledge, diet quality, food security, or hands-on education; contextually relevant pre-2020 Puerto Rican work was retained. Results: Nine studies/reports met inclusion criteria. Experiential approaches were consistently associated with increased cooking self-efficacy and nutrition knowledge [1,3–6,8]. However, gains did not uniformly translate into healthier dietary patterns in the presence of food insecurity, time/cost constraints, and limited healthy food availability [2,4,6]. Puerto Rican cohorts exhibited comparatively high financial strain and food insecurity despite high culinary confidence [2,6]. Effects appear to be mediated by capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM-B), perceived behavioral control and intentions (TPB), and self-efficacy (SCT) [10–12]. Conclusions: Integrating nutrition content with behavior-change strategies and student-centered supports is more promising than technical skill training alone. Future research should evaluate longitudinal dietary outcomes, validate theory-driven mediators, and test multicomponent interventions pairing curriculum redesign with institutional supports.