Cooking Skills, Eating Habits and Nutrition Knowledge Among Italian Adolescents During COVID-19 Pandemic: Sub-Analysis from the Online Survey COALESCENT (Change AmOng ItAlian AdoLESCENTs)

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2023 Oct 14

PMID 37836426

Authors

Silvia Marconi

Loredana Covolo

Monica Marullo

Barbara Zanini

Gaia Claudia Viviana Viola

Umberto Gelatti

Roberto Maroldi

Nicola Latronico

Maurizio Castellano

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Cooking skills (CS) have the potential to improve self-care behaviours and healthy development among adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lifestyles worldwide, and the present study aims to investigate the level of CS after the pandemic, as well as its associations with nutrition knowledge and eating behaviours among a cohort of Italian adolescents.

Methods: We submitted an online survey about lifestyle changes to students aged 13-21 years during the pandemic. Based on overall culinary abilities, we divided respondents into high, medium and low CS. Worsening or improvement in diet quality was detected by assigning an eating habit index (EHI; 0-54).

Results: Out of the 1686 questionnaires collected, 21.5%, 63.6% and 14.9% reported high, medium and low CS, respectively. The EHI scores were statistically higher among students who were able to cook more than 20 recipes compared to those reporting no cooking abilities (30.2 ± 5.9 vs. 26.6 ± 5.7; = 0.0001). High CS significantly correlated with better EHI (OR 1.44; = 0.009), lower consumption of ultra-processed food (OR 1.80; < 0.0001) and better nutrition knowledge (OR 1.42; = 0.007).

Conclusions: Adolescents with good CS showed better nutrition knowledge and healthier eating habits, including lower consumption of ultra-processed foods. Projects aimed to improve CS in adolescents can therefore promote healthier development.

Citing Articles

How Distressed Are Adolescent Students? A Mix-Method Study on High School Students in Northern Italy, Two Years after the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Della Vedova A, Covolo L, Fiammenghi C, Marconi S, Gelatti U, Castellano M Behav Sci (Basel). 2024; 14(9).

PMID: 39335990 PMC: 11428422. DOI: 10.3390/bs14090775.

Change in eating habits after 2 years of pandemic restrictions among adolescents living in a city in northern Italy: results of the COALESCENT Observational Study (Change amOng ItAlian adoLESCENTs).

Zanini B, Covolo L, Marconi S, Marullo M, Viviana Viola G, Gelatti U BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2024; 7(1):45-53.

PMID: 38966110 PMC: 11221285. DOI: 10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000817.

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