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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Child Nutrition and Cooking by Stanford University

4.8
stars
9,972 ratings

About the Course

Eating patterns that begin in childhood affect health and well-being across the lifespan. The culture of eating has changed significantly in recent decades, especially in parts of the world where processed foods dominate our dietary intake. This course examines contemporary child nutrition and the impact of the individual decisions made by each family. The health risks associated with obesity in childhood are also discussed. Participants will learn what constitutes a healthy diet for children and adults and how to prepare simple, delicious foods aimed at inspiring a lifelong celebration of easy home-cooked meals. This course will help prepare participants to be the leading health providers, teachers and parents of the present and future.The text and other material in this course may include the opinion of the specific instructor and are not statements of advice, endorsement, opinion, or information of Stanford University....

Top reviews

IV

Jul 24, 2021

Amazing how much I learned watching videos with all the exact words. Not only about nutrition, but about our planet and how to take care of it. Also very inspiring for having ideas for foods for kids.

RH

Sep 16, 2017

very useful and practical course.. it boosts my positive energy to cook more and more in healthy way for my baby coz much love=much healthy.. It inspired me, it's very simple , easy and very healthy..

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2501 - 2525 of 2,948 Reviews for Child Nutrition and Cooking

By Jean M

•

Sep 24, 2020

I thought the course was comprehensive and appealing to a broad audience. The inserts about home cooking options, shopping choices and how to include children in meal preparation was genuinely warm. Just because of my personal curiosity it would have been interesting to hear more about the political debates concerning lobbyists that were a part of developing the food pyramid but this aspect was probably omitted due to the focus being on child involvement in learning about food choices and cooking. The course did mention how grocery store positioning and marketing affect food choices but there was no mention of the numerous fad diets that people are exposed to that influence their choices. The course was compelling and it would be nice to see more from this instructor.

By Simona I R H

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Nov 22, 2019

The lecturer is very nice and her style of presenting is warm and clear. I loved the graphics drawn to accompany explanations! However, the information as such may be relevant if you are from the USA. In Europe, most of the sensible advice would actually be considered not-so-good practice (meaning things that you do only if you're pressed for time), plus obviously the regulations are different (market is more regulated towards healthier food here - things that are normal in US are forbidden here), plus the target group was quite puzzling (I mean I know all the practical things presented here since age 12 - I wonder who are the people who don't, but are still educated enough to use coursera).

By Karolina N

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Sep 10, 2019

Great information if you're just starting out. I was hoping for a bit more of a quantitative approach (guidance on how many calories children need, how much protein per day, which vegetables contain which key micronutrients) and a bit more guidance for a vegetarian diet (how to ensure sufficient complete proteins, how to get enough iron, anything else to watch out for). I really liked the cooking demonstrations, though, and I will try some of them. We already cook at home but after the children arrived we found we need to streamline and simplify our cooking in order to get dinner done on time every day. The cooking demonstrations in this course show exactly the cooking stye I want to adopt.

By Harry W

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Aug 31, 2015

Good science, great explanations, simple recipes with tips and advice. Strongly recommended to people with little/no cooking and/or science backgrounds - especially new university students and parents. However, I would not consider the professor (she is a doctor though) a skilled chef - while her recipes are great and simple, the techniques she uses are perhaps not the best, given that she is conducting a course that's nearly 20% cooking demonstrations. I would strongly suggest consulting a Jamie Oliver book/video, or Michael Smith to augment this course.

TL'DR: Great science and explanations, good recipes, could have used better cooking techniques. Good for uni students/healthy eaters.

By Sudha M

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Feb 23, 2018

Well planned, easy to understand segments and simple recipes that will work for newbie cooks. It also covered a variety of topics, some of which I had not thought about.

Suggestions: Some of the topics could be more in-depth like nutrition labels are a big concern today and deserved more attention in the course. Also I would've like to see a chart that gives inputs into planning a child's diet like 3-5 servings of veg, so much fluid etc rather than the generic "eat more vegetables" principle that was the focus in this course. Perhaps a shorter follow up course could include more information and less recipes.

By MS

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Aug 18, 2015

As a college student I really appreciate how many of the tips shared are simple and can be implemented on a day to day basis. A lot the recipes and ideas shared do not require really fancy equipment or ingredients I've never heard of, are super expensive, or hard to find. The instructor truly cares about students leaning how to cook for themselves and eat healthier and provides information to do so without judgement. Her passion is clear and I love how she promotes little steps and not some drastic change that can eat up all of your energy and focus to implement. Thank you!!!!

By Sarah N

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Jan 28, 2016

This is a very clear and very well presented course. It covers the science of nutrition as well as the practical aspects of cooking through demos. The instructor speaks clearly and knowledgeably about her subject.

I will note that it is definitely a beginner level course. If you already do a fair bit of cooking from scratch and have already read some Michael Pollan books, you may not learn much that is new to you.

What it does though, it does very well.

Also, the instructor's kitchen is beautiful and I spent most of the lectures coveting it greatly :)

By Tannia F

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Apr 26, 2019

Un curso sencillo y muy clarificador sobre la cantidad y calidad de nutrientes. Me parece importante que si reiteran que es mejor consumir vegetales por sobre productos de origen animal, sean congruentes a la hora de presentar las recetas. Sólo hubo una receta vegana. Entiendo que en el mundo está normalizado el consumo de productos de origen animal, sin embargo, se conocen ampliamente los efectos dañinos de estos productos a nivel humano y por lo tanto, a nivel planetario. Hay que desmitificar creencias desde la práctica. Gracias.

By Rebecca b

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Sep 17, 2015

I really enjoy how in-depth the lessons are. I have four small children and have learned that they eat and drink what we do because they love to mimic us as their role models and if we would not want a bunch of junk in our bodies why should our children. This world is so fast paced and fast food junkies yet we can still make even small choices that are healthy for us like maybe a grilled chicken or a salad if we absolutely have to have something while out. Otherwise it's much better and cheaper to cook at home and have family time

By Tzeira O

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Feb 15, 2016

I found most of what was presented very interestng. I found that when the lesson on chicken soup and stew was being presented, that you used chicken broth from a box. To get better flavour of your chicken soup, why not just add one cube of beef? Better yet, with your stew, why not add some homemade veggie stock which can keep in the freezer?

Overall I enjoyed the course, but if you could address the above issue of chicken broth from a box, i would appreciate it. Also, is there a way to get your drawings from this lesson? Thank you

By Natalia A L A

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Oct 2, 2017

All the videos are clear, you can understand everything. Also, you learn topics relation with the environment which I think it´s important to know how the food affects not only to us, as well how affects the economic and the social life around the world. But I think they should incentive more healthier practices in connection with sugars, for example instead use sugar should use Stevia, and respect to the fats should talk about others alternatives like coconut oil and ghee, and not talk only about the olive oil and butter.

By Harold C

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Mar 21, 2017

The material given is good for an introductory course on child nutrition. The graphics and didactic material is very good. I would suggest that Dr. Maya improve on her cooking skills (cutting and chopping), It takes too long to do every task and she must use appropriate tools. also, measurements are very important in the kitchen to be disregarded as she does. Remember, she might be teaching to people that have not cook at all. Cooking without measuring is for an expert or a least for somebody with some cooking experience.

By Felicitas C

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Feb 7, 2016

There was a lot of very valuable information in the course, and I very much liked the general structure. However, maybe it was due to my career and family background, but there was also plenty of information that I had mistaken as common knowledge. Apparently I have more knowledge in this area than I assumed.

Overall, this was a very interesting course, and the combination of the videos and smart board graphics helped keep things interesting. I would very much recommend Child Nutrition and Cooking!

By Myriam K

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Nov 12, 2015

I enjoyed this course very much and found it to be a very good introduction to the science of nutrition and cooking. It wasn't focused on children as much as I thought it would be. I would have liked to know a lot more about portion sizes and calories intake, which weren't much discussed. I knew that some foods were good and others were bad... thanks to the course, I now also know why! I didn't find the course too challenging and thought that Maya Adams was a very pleasant instructor.

By Aloke N P

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Nov 23, 2015

It was fun doing this course and at the same time was quite informative. The small things matters most is what you realise and long time back Mahatma Gandhi has said most of the things especially the economic and ecological aspects of our food consumption and habits and has predicted the difficulties we would face. JC Kumarappa on Economy of Permanence is a good read in this regard. Excellent presentation and even a kid will watch it with great interest.

By Heajee K P

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Jan 9, 2016

I love the teaching style that Maya provides. The diagrams are cute and engaging.

A great course for those who are not used to eating healthy, and do not cook on a regular basis.

For those who are already health conscious and enjoy cooking, this course may not provide you with much new information, but rather confirmed what I already knew and was taught as a child by your mother, or through learning how to cook healthy meals for yourself.

By Kerry A

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Jul 4, 2016

I really liked this course. It has given me a renewed appreciation for home cooking. My favorite part was the hand drawings for the main content videos. I also liked all the cooking demonstrations. I plan on trying them real soon In the future, I'm hoping for more content and the opportunity to earn a certificate. I'd like to see a section specific nutritional targets for certain age groups. Menu planning would also be welcome.

By R A

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Sep 10, 2015

I felt like a lot of this information was VERY basic, and then I consider the people around me and how little they know about food and nutrition. Someone like my niece who is young with an infant would definitely benefit from this course. I like the way the information was presented, very easy to comprehend. Overall I'd recommend this course if you are interested in knowing a bit more about nutrition regardless if you have a child.

By Leila L

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Aug 5, 2020

I enjoyed the course and found it very informative. However I felt some of the recommendations, like visiting farmer´s markets and growing your own vegetables would be difficult for low income families to follow. It´s great that olive oil was used as the primary fat in the kitchen, but I think it´s worth emphasising that not all olive oils are equal, and that ideally you should use Extra Virgin Olive oil for everything.

By Kristina S

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Feb 16, 2021

Course was interesting and covered a lot of bases. I feel like I have a more well rounded view of why it's important to cook and eat healthier. The cooking demonstrations seemed easy enough and I was excited to try some new things, but they didn't turn out very successful. It would have been nice to have some sort of recipe book to accompany the course that contained more detailed instructions. I'll keep trying :-)

By Larissa S A

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Feb 5, 2016

This course provides great information. If you have taken any other basic nutrition courses, as I have, most of the information is review. I found the that info wasn't necessarily specific to children but could be applied to all individuals regarding healthy eating, choosing local/organic etc. Even if you don't have children and want to learn more about healthy eating, this course would be beneficial for you.

By Ha H

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Oct 21, 2015

I like the structure of the course as well as its presentations.

The instructors are very lively and creative in providing real-life information and materials.

I suggest to have more courses with her that has a deeper understanding of child nutrition in various age groups.

However, some of the cooking demonstrations do not indicate the temperature and duration of the heating.

That's why I gave the course 4 stars.

By christy s

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Jan 18, 2016

Some of the information from video to video was repetitive. However, I learned a lot about how organic food is good for people and the environment. Additionally, it was great to see how children can get involved in the kitchen and i hope that any parents who watch this try to get their children to be involved with a small garden or helping to prepare meals. Hands-on is the best way for kids to learn!

By Anandita K A

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Aug 16, 2015

This course is great!! And fun too...

I learn many thing that I've overlooked for these years, just like nutrition label and soon. This course tell me the basic knowledge of healthy meal and the importance of making my own meal. Unfortunately, this course is pretty much short like the other...It'll be SUPER if the content of the course could be extended a lil' bit (or a lot more is better though :p)

By Megan D

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Apr 15, 2020

I did learn a few new things over this course and it was nice to be able to skip ahead/read ahead instead of watching the videos. I didn't take to the slowness of the videos as some may. I think a more excited approach would be better, it was a bit monotonic. Overall, a decent course especially for someone needing motivation to provide better meals for their family or themselves.