By: Alex Tisdale, Contributing Writer
Photo by Alex Tisdale

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, approximately 39.2% of Alabamians qualify as obese and 13.9% of the population was diagnosed with diabetes in 2024. In the last year, people aged 20 to 29 were the most frequent consumers of fast food.

Culinary medicine has recently intersected with science and nutrition to address this issue, leading to the development of the Integrative Health and Wellness program at South. This program is designed to help students support changes in diet, exercise and mental health. The Integrative Health and Wellness team kicked off the spring semester with on-campus cooking classes. They take place two to three times a week at two locations: the University Commons and USA Health Mapp Family Campus in Fairhope. These cooking classes feature healthy, plant-based meals spanning across breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Taught by internal medicine physician Robert Israel and nurse practitioner Margaret Kappel, these cooking classes are to prevent health issues in younger patients caused by unhealthy lifestyles. 

“As a healthcare provider, I would love to see our community be a healthier community,” said Kappel. “However, it’s also about fostering a stronger sense of community.”

“I realize that I can look at some of my younger patients, whose parents I was taking care of, and I can see their health issues that they didn’t have yet,” said Israel. “[I knew] that they would have health issues in a few years if they didn’t change something about their lifestyle, like [incorporating] exercise or eating less processed foods.”

According to a 2016 study, ultra-processed foods make up between 60% and 90%  of the American diet. Though not all processed foods are considered “bad for you,” high consumption of highly processed foods can be associated with high body fat. Israel’s idea for this cooking class was inspired by his visit to the Harvard Institute of Public Health. 

“I went to [a Harvard cooking] class and all the food was fantastic,” said Israel. “It was all healthy and plant based, so I came back and thought it would be great to have a teaching kitchen.”

I attended a breakfast cooking class and learned new techniques that helped make cooking an egg omelette a breeze. The class provided the participants all of the necessary ingredients. We learned safe methods for cutting vegetables and cracking eggs without getting eggshells into our recipe. 

“I started paying attention to what I eat,” said participant Kim Peterson. “I started to learn more and be better prepared to make selections to stay healthy.”

Overall, I found the cooking class very interesting and informative. I usually find myself to be a very unhealthy, picky eater so I was a bit hesitant to try out these dishes. I ended up being shocked and blown away by how great everything tasted, especially the egg omelette. I would highly recommend these classes to those who want to start eating healthier and want to learn more about cooking. 

Health and Wellness will have cooking classes like these throughout the entire semester, two to three times a week. If you want to participate in these classes, contact IHWP@health.southalabama.edu or call 251-660-6441.