Survey finds ignorance in kitchen is a recipe for obesity

potato; and, 45.7 PER CENT couldn’t confidently follow a recipe through to completion.

The findings from national research company Pureprofile can be revealed exclusively by News Corp and have been correlated from a national survey of 1006 parents.

Parents were asked to assess how well their kids could perform in the kitchen across a range of parameters.

More than half (67.3 per cent) of parents believe their children could do better when it comes to healthy food and lifestyle knowledge.

Close to half of parents (42.5 per cent) believe poor food choices are caused by lack of education at secondary school, with nine in 10 parents in support of schools doing more to promote healthy lifestyle.

One in four Australian children under the age of 18 is considered to be overweight or obese, with Australia the fifth most obese nation in the world according to the OECD.

Experts say those numbers will continue to grow if we are unable to teach children healthy food choices .

Miriam Raleigh, nutritionist with Child Nutrition, said she was already seeing a generation of young parents who had “no idea how to cook”.

“They rely on convenience meals and easy snacks and the reality is those foods often have a higher fat and salt content which can lead to obesity but also a range of cardiovas- cular and health issues,” Ms Raleigh said.

Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said the findings relating to kids’ lack of kitchen knowledge was “very concerning”.

“There is no doubt that if these trends continue levels (of childhood obesity) can only continue to increase,” Dr Bartone said.

“Health literacy especially around nutrition is crucial both in adequate healthy lifestyle management and preven-