The relationship between culinary skills and eating behaviors: Challenges and opportunities for parents and families

Abstract

Unhealthy dietary intake among American children and adults is of great concern to public health practitioners, nutritional scientists, and child development experts. Cooking skills are related to healthier dietary intake among Americans of all ages, but remain a substantial barrier for many parents who want to serve healthy meals for their families at home. Culinary education interventions are effective solutions for many parents who do not know how to cook, but issues with participation bias mean that these programs are not effective solutions for all individuals. The food industry should develop solutions to help those parents for whom learning cooking skills is not an option - specifically through the development of healthier pre-assembled or prepared foods that do not require cooking skills to make. In the future, the research community should also strive to collect comprehensive population-based data on the state of cooking skills in the United States.

Keywords: Children; Cooking skills; Culinary education; Eating behaviors; Family meals; Parents; Prepared foods.