MI NUTRO (Migrants nutrition knowledge for integration): A nutrition education intervention among immigrants, Perugia (Italy) - Pilot study

Introduction. The MI NUTRO (MIgrants NUTRition knOwledge for integration) study aimed to evaluate migrants nutrition knowledge, enhance their information on healthy diet and lastly to investigate the impact of healthy cooking-classes on food-knowledge. Methods. MI NUTRO is a quasi-experimental pilot study. All participants were voluntarily enrolled and the intervention was based on a combination of theoretical and practical workshops on nutrition. A validated questionnaire was used. Non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare baseline and post intervention score. Results. We recruited 19 migrants. For the participants as a whole, the mean nutrition knowledge score was 11.4 ± 3.8 (standard deviation - SD) before, and 27.5 ± 5.6 SD after the intervention, with a statistical significant difference. Discussion. Our study shows a statistically significant increase in migrants' nutritional knowledge after the cooking classes. These consisted of interactive learning sessions in which every migrant had the possibility to take part in the cooking process. Moreover, at the end of each cooking class, researchers and migrants had a dinner together in order to improve their cultural exchange.