The Impact of Acquiring Childhood Cooking Skills on Adults’ Dietary Behaviors

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine whether the age of learning cooking skills promotes higher cooking confidence and diet quality during adulthood. Additionally, the study investigated the impact of learning cooking skills from various sources on diet quality and cooking confidence in adulthood. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted with a sample of 487 midwestern college students between 20 and 40 years old. The survey included demographic information, validated Short Healthy Eating Index scale to measure diet quality, and Cooking Skills Scale to assess cooking skills confidence. Participants also reported the age at which they acquired most of their cooking skills, as well as the sources for their learned skills. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA with post hoc analyses and a two-independent samples t-test at a significance level of .05. Results: Most participants who learned to cook before adulthood learned during adolescence. However, the age for acquiring cooking skills did not significantly impact adults' diet quality (p = 0.247). Participants who learned cooking skills during childhood (<12 years) and as teenagers (13-18 years) had higher Cooking Skills Confidence scores than those who learned cooking skills during adulthood (p = 0.007). Mother or being self-taught were the most influential sources for acquiring cooking skills. No significant relationship was found between the most influential source of learning cooking skills and adults' diet quality (p = 0.272). Learning cooking skills in a public formal setting versus a household setting did not impact adult diet quality. Females were significantly more confident in their cooking skills and had significantly higher diet quality compared to male participants. Cooking confidence scores significantly increased with level of education and the age of the participant. Conclusions: This research determined that the age of acquired cooking skills did not influence level of adult diet quality. Learning to cook at a younger age can help build stronger confidence by providing more opportunities to develop skills.