IN-PERSON WORKSHOP: Culinary Medicine Anywhere - A Hands-On, Family-Based Approach to Pediatric Lifestyle Medicine

Sunday, November 8, 2026

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET

Location: Teaching Kitchen

Presenter(s)

Allison Collins, MD

Director of Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine
Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara
Mountain View, California, United States
Neelam Singh, RD

Registered Dietitian III, CDCES, DipACLM
Kaiser Permanante
San Jose, California, United States
Richa Goyal, MD

Family Physican and Lifestyle Medicine Board Certified
Kaiser Permanente
Santa Clara, California, United States

HANDS-ON TEACHING KITCHEN SESSION

Workshop Description: This interactive 3-hour session brings a family-centered Lifestyle Medicine framework to life through hands-on culinary skill-building and experiential learning. Participants will actively prepare, taste, and adapt simple, affordable, plant-forward meals designed for children, teens, and families. Working in small groups, participants will practice core culinary skills (knife skills, meal assembly, batch prep, flavor building) and prepare quick, family-friendly recipes adaptable to multiple environments and tastes. They'll explore strategies to engage children and caregivers in shared cooking experiences within medical visits in a variety of settings and learn how to translate nutrition guidance into practical, time-efficient meals. The session emphasizes creative delivery models for culinary medicine, demonstrating how to implement hands-on programming in a variety of settings, including teaching kitchens, clinics, group visits, classrooms, community spaces, and virtual formats.

Brief faculty-led teaching will be integrated throughout, covering:
- Food-as-medicine principles for pediatric metabolic health
- Behavior change strategies rooted in family routines and shared meals
- Trauma-informed and equity-centered approaches to engagement
- Adapting culinary education for time, space, and resource constraints

Participants will rotate through applied learning stations focused on:
- Efficient program setup and workflow across settings
- Engaging kids and teens with age-appropriate kitchen roles
- Culturally adaptable, budget-conscious meal design
- Building confidence through peer learning

Learning Objectives:

Apply core principles of Lifestyle Medicine and Culinary Medicine to design simple, plant-forward meals that support pediatric metabolic health in real-world settings.
Demonstrate foundational culinary skills (e.g., knife skills, batch preparation, and flavor building) to efficiently translate nutrition guidance into practical, family-friendly meals.
Develop strategies to engage children, teens, and caregivers in shared cooking experiences that reinforce behavior change, family routines, and long-term adherence.
Adapt culinary medicine programming for diverse clinical and community environments using trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and resource-conscious approaches.