Young adults ‘lacking confidence’ in the kitchen

Just three in 10 young adults feel confident in the kitchen while almost a fifth living in a house or flat share continue to have their meals cooked by a parent or guardian, according to a study.

The survey by analysts Mintel found just 30 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 are confident cooks and 16 per cent perceive cooking as stressful.

The poll revealed 16 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 who live in a house or flat share continue to have their meals cooked for them by parents or guardians, as do 15 per cent of those living in student accommodation.

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Just 27 per cent of 16 to 24s cook from scratch most days, compared with 54 per cent of over-55s, while more than two thirds (68 per cent) of young adults eat prepared meals such as ready meals, pizza or soup more than once a week.

Almost a fifth of adults choose to cook a meal according to the amount of washing up it generates.

Practical cookery is compulsory for children up to Year 9 in the new national curriculum that will come into effect from September this year, with the aim of “instilling a love of cooking” in pupils from a young age.

Television chef Mary Berry has said all children should be taught to cook 10 full meals at school, saying: “It should be that every child when they leave school can do 10 meals, because when they leave home they’ve got to be able to eat healthily.”

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Mintel global food and drink analyst Alex Beckett said: “Considering obesity rates in the UK are climbing, and this country has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Western Europe, the need to encourage young adults to cook and eat healthily is perhaps imperative.