Habilidades culinárias de estudantes universitários: resultados do estudo multicêntrico "Nutrição é na cozinha!"

Abstract

Cooking skills are the confidence, attitude and application of individual knowledge to perform culinary tasks, from menu planning and shopping to food preparation. Cooking skills passed down from parents to children can promote healthier eating habits, but they have been declining over the generations, causing young people to show less confidence and autonomy in preparing their own meals. This study aimed to analyze the culinary skills of university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted, with data collection taking place from October 2020 to March 2021, with 3,138 university students from the following institutions: UFSC, UFRGS, UFRN and UFAL, carried out online through a Google Forms form. Socioeconomic data, as well as data on meal preparation and culinary skills were collected through the Brazilian Questionnaire for the Assessment of Culinary Skills and Healthy Eating. The median age of the students was 22 years; the majority were female (72.6%); 71.7% learned to cook on their own with the help of the internet, cookbooks or TV programs. The majority (68.0%) had a high level of culinary skill. In the bivariate analysis, high culinary skill was associated with female students (69.5%), those who learned to cook in a class, course or school (83.3%), and those who learned to cook on their own, on the internet, with cookbooks or TV programs (74.5%). Logistic regressions showed that, for all centers, high knowledge of culinary terms and techniques was associated with lower odds of low/medium culinary skills, as was high availability of fruits and vegetables. Age was also associated with lower odds ratios of having low/medium culinary skills for students at UFSC and UFRGS. Therefore, culinary interventions aimed at this audience should encourage male participation; adopt strategies that encourage students to learn to cook on their own; increase access to fruits and vegetables with a view to increasing consumption; and invest in knowledge of culinary techniques, taking advantage of all sources that contribute to knowledge and learning.