Cooking skills in adolescents leads to a healthier life

Lifestyles are changing, and the practice of home cooking is dying. More families are eating out or just don’t have the time to cook at home.

It’s not even taught in school anymore.

But the impact of losing these skills and not cooking at home can be felt later in life.

Evidence found in a new study found that developing cooking skills as a young adult may have long-term benefits for health and nutrition.

Perceived adequacy in cooking skills at age 18-23 years predicted better nutrition-related outcomes 10 years later.

Data were collected as part of the Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults longitudinal study conducted in Minneapolis-Saint Paul area schools.

1158 participants reported on the adequacy of their cooking skills in 2002-2003 when they were 18-23 years of age. In a follow-up in 2015-2016 they reported on their nutrition-related outcomes when the participants were 30 to 35 years.

The questions assessed their perceived adequacy in cooking, how often they cooked with vegetables, how often they ate with family and how often they ate out.

Most participants perceived their cooking skills to be adequate at age 18-23 years. One quarter of the participants reported their skills to be very adequate.

Colour, race, sex and ethnicity played no role in perceived adequacy of cooking skills in the participants.

Perceived adequacy in cooking skills at age 18-23 years predicted better nutrition-related outcomes 10 years later such as more frequent preparation of meals with vegetables and less frequent fast food consumption.

If those who perceived to have adequate cooking skills also had families, then they ate more frequent family meals, less frequent fast food meals and had fewer barriers to food preparation.

Developing cooking skills in adolescents can have long term benefits for their health and wellbeing in the long run.

Thus parents, health professionals, educators and community agencies must continue to include cooking education for young adults which will make a world of difference to their health and in the way they lead their lives as they get independent and live more autonomously.

Source: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior,