Learning cooking skills at different ages: a cross-sectional study.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Cooking skills are vital for preventing diet-related diseases and obesity.
• Optimal age and learning sources for cooking skills are not well-defined.
• This study investigates age and source of learning's impact on cooking skills, practices, attitudes, diet, and health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the optimal age for learning cooking skills.
• To assess the impact of different learning sources on cooking skills and related outcomes.
• To understand the association between age/source of learning and skill retention, cooking practices, attitudes, diet quality, and health.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey of 1049 adults (20-60 years) in Northern/Republic of Ireland.
• Utilized validated measures for cooking/food skills, practices, attitudes, diet quality, and health.
• Analyzed data using ANOVAs and Chi-squared tests to assess age and source of learning effects.

Main Results:

• Learning cooking skills in childhood (<12 years) and adolescence (13-18 years) correlated with better skills, practices, attitudes, diet quality, and health.
• Mothers were the primary learning source, with exclusive learning from mothers showing significantly better outcomes in 12 of 23 measures.
• Adult learners showed higher fiber intake compared to younger learners.

Conclusions:

• Early acquisition of cooking skills is crucial for long-term benefits in skill retention, confidence, practices, attitudes, and diet quality.
• While mothers are key, a decline in domestic cooking expertise necessitates exploring alternative educational sources for early-age practical cooking skills.
• Further longitudinal research is recommended to explore the long-term impact of age and source of learning on cooking skills and health outcomes.