Cooking Skills and Dietary Behavior in Young Adults

Cooking skills encompass the practical abilities and confidence required to plan, prepare and present meals from basic ingredients. In young adults, these skills are closely linked to dietary behaviour, influencing meal choices, nutrient intake and reliance on convenience or ultra-processed foods. Recent demographic and behavioural analyses indicate that cooking competence in this age group varies according to factors such as gender, education level and time availability. Proficient cooking ability often correlates with higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole foods, while limited skills are associated with greater use of ready-to-eat products and increased dietary risk. The development of cooking expertise is shaped by early learning environments, social support and access to resources. Interventions that enhance culinary confidence, address barriers such as cost and time constraints, and integrate behavioural theory have shown promise in shifting young adults towards healthier eating patterns. Improved cooking skills not only foster better diet quality but also contribute to long-term health, weight management and social well-being by promoting shared food practices and reducing dependence on high-salt, high-sugar convenience options.

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Cooking Skills and Dietary Behavior in Young Adults publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in cooking skills and dietary behavior in young adults across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Cooking skills: Practical abilities and confidence to plan, prepare and combine ingredients into meals.

Dietary behaviour: Patterns of food selection, consumption frequency and meal practices influencing nutrient intake.

Household foodwork: The combined physical and cognitive tasks involved in sourcing, cooking and cleaning up meals.

Convenience foods: Industrially prepared products requiring minimal preparation, often high in salt, sugar or fat.

Self-efficacy: An individual’s belief in their capacity to perform cooking tasks successfully.

References

1. Development of the 10-question household foodwork interactional assessment questionnaire (FIA-Q10). International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2024).
2. Sociodemographic and behavioural differences between frequent and non-frequent users of convenience food in Germany. Frontiers in Nutrition (2024).
3. Assessing the Use of Social Cognitive Theory Components in Cooking and Food Skills Interventions. Nutrients (2023).
4. Time Spent on Home Food Preparation and Indicators of Healthy Eating. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2014).
5. The influence of socio-demographic, psychological and knowledge-related variables alongside perceived cooking and food skills abilities in the prediction of diet quality in adults: a nationally representative cross-sectional study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2016).
6. Association between home food preparation skills and behaviour, and consumption of ultra-processed foods: Cross-sectional analysis of the UK National Diet and nutrition survey (2008–2009). International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2017).
7. Who’s cooking? Trends in US home food preparation by gender, education, and race/ethnicity from 2003 to 2016. Nutrition Journal (2018).