TWU alum uses cooking program to educate communities on nutrition

Jan. 27, 2025 — DENTON — As a PhD student at Texas Woman’s and an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, Stephanie M. Lopez-Neyman developed a community health program that focused on low-income men and women. Within that program, she did a lot of hands-on nutrition education and cooking demonstrations.

Now as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Center for the Study of Obesity, Lopez-Neyman has continued that work, but in a school setting. In March 2024, Lopez-Neyman led cooking demonstration classes at an area elementary school. 

“I see my work with the cooking demonstration classes pilot as a continuation of the type of work I engaged in with my Schweitzer Fellowship year-long project,” Lopez-Neyman said. 

One of the unique aspects of this pilot program was the collaboration among Lopez-Neyman at the Center for the Study of Obesity, the culinary medicine program at UAMS and Chicot Elementary School. 

A team consisting of registered dietitians, a physician, a behavioral scientist, a community school site coordinator and a garden educator all worked together to run a series of evening cooking classes for local families. Lopez-Neyman oversaw the project, the culinary medicine program handled the cooking element and the elementary school staff recruited families. 

Lopez-Neyman’s strong background in nutrition and public health contributed to the success of the program. She earned her PhD in nutrition from TWU’s Nutrition and Food Sciences department and has an MPH in epidemiology and an MS in clinical science, both from UAMS. She is also a registered dietitian. 

“It was very involved because we wanted it to be unique to that school,” Lopez-Neyman said. “We did surveys to figure out what their needs were as far as kitchen utensils. So, it was part teaching the family about good nutrition but also bringing in culinary skills so that they would know how to prepare the recipes we selected.” 

Lopez-Neyman and her team gathered copious amounts of data before the classes started, including demographic information, a survey audit and research about what groceries were nearby. 

“We wanted to be very mindful of what’s available in the food environment and also looking at cost to make sure it was feasible,” Lopez-Neyman said.

Chicot Elementary was an ideal partner. As a community school, it was already involved with school gardening and school nutrition education. Cooking stations were set up for each family on site in the culinary medicine program's cooking kitchen so the families could cook together and then gather afterwards at a set dining table to enjoy the cooked meal together.

Each of the three nights had a theme (Heart Healthy, for example), and one of the favorite meals was the veggie and brown rice stir-fry, which gave everyone an opportunity to practice their cutting skills.

Lopez-Neyman was able to gather data from the cooking demonstration classes, and presented her findings at the Culinary Medicine Conference in the Washington, D.C., area in the summer of 2024.

One of her conclusions from the pilot program was how culinary medicine can support community schools by providing families with the confidence and skills that amplify the impact of school-based nutritional initiatives to enhance nutritional security. 

During her time at TWU and UAMS, Lopez-Neyman’s research has centered on multilevel nutrition interventions to improve health equity in diverse populations. 

“I have always been fascinated with how nutrition affects the body, the physiology of the body and how nutrition has a big role in chronic diseases,” Lopez-Neyman said.

Lopez-Neyman’s nutrition journey is continuing with her recent appointment as an assistant professor at UAMS in the College of Health Professions and Department of Dietetics and Nutrition. She is hopeful about planning more community cooking classes in her new role.  

“The cool thing about these three classes was we involved the dietetic interns,” Lopez-Neyman said. “UAMS has a dietetic internship program and we were able to involve the interns and one of my roles of being in this position is looking for these engagement opportunities and continuing working partnership with the culinary medicine program so that we can see if there are other schools that are interested in doing these classes.”