From the pandemic to the pan: the impact of COVID-19 on parental inclusion of children in cooking activities: a cross-continental survey

Benson, Tony; Murphy, Blain; McCloat, Amanda; Mooney, Elaine; Dean, Moira; Lavelle, Fiona

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on time spent cooking and parental inclusion of children in cooking. The secondary aim was to investigate differences between those who frequently included their children in cooking activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and those who included their children less, on a number of factors such as working from home, parents’ diet quality and cooking skills confidence. DESIGN: Cross-continental survey with Wilcoxon-signed ranks, Independent t tests, Mann–Whitney U, χ (2) and a binomial logistic regression used for assessment. SETTING: Online. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of parents over 18 years from the island of Ireland (n 180), Great Britain (n 312), the USA (n 120) and New Zealand (n 166). RESULTS: In three regions, parents’ time spent cooking and inclusion of children in everyday cooking activities increased (P < 0·001). Country (OR = 3·6, 95 % CI 1·7, 7·6), education (OR = 1·6, 95 % CI 1·1, 2·4), cooking skills confidence (OR = 1·02, 95 % CI 1·009, 1·032) and a parental higher intake of vegetables (OR = 1·3, 95 % CI 1·1, 1·5) were significant predictors of a more frequent inclusion of children in cooking activities. CONCLUSIONS: While there a number of key benefits to including children in cooking for the children such as providing life skills and increases in diet quality, this study highlighted a higher intake of vegetables by parents who included children more frequently in cooking activities. With continued lockdowns due to COVID-19 and perhaps more flexibility in working from home in the future, including children in cooking activities should be a key public health message for both children and parents.