Identifying Factors Related to Food Agency: Cooking Habits in the Spanish Adult Population—A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

This study focuses on understanding factors that influence food agency in the Spanish population, specifically with regard to cooking habits, knowledge, and determinants and their possible relationship with body weight. A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted. Individuals were asked about their cooking responsibilities, how they learned to cook, factors that affect their food choices, and their preferred cooking techniques. Anthropometric data were also recorded. Participants were randomly selected, and we finally had 2026 respondents aged ≥18 years (60% women, 40% men). A total of 90.5% of participants stated that they had cooking skills. Women were mainly responsible for cooking tasks (p < 0.05) at all ages. A significantly higher proportion of people under 50 years self-reported that they were “able to cook” in comparison with groups over 50 years. Regardless of age, most participants learned to cook either by practice (43.3%) or from a family member (42.2%). Men tended to be more autodidactic, whereas women reported learning from family. No relation was found between weight status and the evaluated factors investigated. In conclusion, women bear the responsibility for the entire cooking process in families, indicating a gender gap in the involvement of men in cooking responsibilities and competence. More research is needed to assess the influence of cooking knowledge on obesity prevention.

Food Sustainability Knowledge and Attitudes in the Spanish Adult Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Even though some published studies failed to find differences between women and men on the attitudes to and knowledge of food sustainability [ 33 , 67 ], our results show a higher interest for sustainability in women as compared to men, which is in agreement with other research [ 38 , 45 ]. At present, cooking and shopping in Spain is still primarily carried out by women [ 25 , 26 ], and therefore food consumption practices are an area where gender roles are still of great significance. This fact may explain women’s higher interest on food sustainability and in consuming sustainably.…”

“…The lower interest for sustainable eating among the younger group (18–30 years) is another interesting and somewhat surprising result. This lack of sustainability consciousness may be due to low responsibility of the young group for cooking and shopping at home [ 25 , 26 ], or to a true lesser interest in sustainability. Results from other countries are controversial, while some research show a higher concern for environment and food sustainability in the younger population [ 18 , 28 , 79 ]; others found similar results to ours [ 45 , 77 ].…”

“…We conducted a cross-sectional survey on sociological aspects of food eating habits and food agency in a representative sample of adults (≥18 years old) living in Spain. Results on shopping and cooking habits have been previously published [ 25 , 26 ]. This paper presents the results on food sustainability attitude and knowledge in this same population.…”

Flipping the Tortilla: Social-Ecological Innovations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge for More Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Spain

“…Refined products were found to be replacing these staple foods and fresh products [46,47]. Simultaneously, cooking habits and skills-especially among younger women-are decreasing [31] and slow cooking techniques have been replaced by the purchase of ready-made dishes or simpler recipes [48]. This nutrition transition brings with it obesity and health risks [49][50][51][52][53][54] that manifest themselves in the form of increased food-related chronic diseases, decreased life expectancy and increasing health costs [43,53,54].…”

“…Practices and knowledge of food processing (e.g., culinary skills, food transformation and conservation knowledge) have been largely overlooked by TAeK literature [30]. However such practices are crucial in order to promote sustainable and healthy diets [31,32].…”