Food Preparation by Young Adults Is Associated with Better Diet Quality
Abstract
Objective To describe food-preparation behaviors, cooking skills, resources for preparing food, and associations with diet quality among young adults.Design Cross-sectional analyses were performed in a sample of young adults who responded to the second wave of a population-based longitudinal study. Measures pertaining to food preparation were self-reported and dietary intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire, both by a mailed survey.Subjects/setting Males (n = 764) and females (n = 946) ages 18 to 23 years.Statistical analyses performed Cross-tabulations and chi2 tests were used to examine associations between food preparation, skills/resources for preparing foods, and characteristics of young adults. Mixed regression models were used to generate expected probabilities of meeting the Healthy People 2010 dietary objectives according to reported behaviors and skills/resources.Results Food-preparation behaviors were not performed by the majority of young adults even weekly. Sex (male), race (African American), and living situation (campus housing) were significantly related to less frequent food preparation. Lower perceived adequacy of skills and resources for food preparation was related to reported race (African American or Hispanic) and student status (part-time or not in school). The most common barrier to food preparation was lack of time, reported by 36% of young adults. Young adults who reported frequent food preparation reported less frequent fast-food use and were more likely to meet dietary objectives for fat (P < 0.001), calcium (P < 0.001), fruit (P < 0.001), vegetable (P < 0.001), and whole-grain (P = 0.003) consumption.Conclusions To improve dietary intake, interventions among young adults should teach skills for preparing quick and healthful meals.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Previous research has shown that young adults living in an apartment/house were more involved in food preparation than young people who lived with their parents or at campus housing.
“Previous research has shown that young adults living in an apartment/house were more involved in food preparation than young people who lived with their parents or at campus housing [61].”
From The association of demographic characteristics and food choice motives with the consumption of functional foods in emerging adults (2020) · cites this paper as [61]
Cites
Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties.
Arnett, J. J. (2000) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.55.5.469 · Cited by 16,843 · see citing works
Must, A., Dallal, G., & Dietz, W. (1991) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/53.4.839 · Cited by 1,343 · see citing works
Factors Influencing Food Choices of Adolescents
Neumark‐Sztainer, D., Story, M. T., Perry, C. L., & Casey, M. A. (1999) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(99)00222-9 · Cited by 826 · see citing works
Self-citationFrench, S. A., Story, M. T., Neumark‐Sztainer, D., Fulkerson, J. A., & Hannan, P. J. (2001) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0801820 · Cited by 738 · see citing works
Self-citationValidation of a Youth/Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire
Rockett, H. R. H., Breitenbach, M., Frazier, A. L., Witschi, J. C., Wolf, A., Field, A. E., & Colditz, G. A. (1997) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1006/pmed.1997.0200 · Cited by 692 · see citing works
Weight-Related Concerns and Behaviors Among Overweight and Nonoverweight Adolescents
Neumark‐Sztainer, D., Story, M. T., Hannan, P. J., Perry, C. L., & Irving, L. M. (2002) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.156.2.171 · Cited by 606 · see citing works
Self-citationEthnic/racial differences in weight-related concerns and behaviors among adolescent girls and boys
Neumark‐Sztainer, D., Croll, J. K., Story, M. T., Hannan, P. J., French, S. A., & Perry, C. L. (2002) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(02)00486-5 · Cited by 524 · see citing works
Self-citationSurvey Nonresponse Adjustments for Estimates of Means
Little, R. J. A. (1986) · International Statistical Review · doi:10.2307/1403140 · Cited by 524 · see citing works
Rockett, H. R. H., Wolf, A., & Colditz, G. A. (1995) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(95)00086-0 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Trends in Food Locations and Sources among Adolescents and Young Adults
Nielsen, S. (2002) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1006/pmed.2002.1037 · Cited by 441 · see citing works
Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., Hannan, P. J., & Croll, J. (2002) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.92.5.844 · Cited by 440 · see citing works
Self-citationLarson, N., Story, M. T., Eisenberg, M. E., & Neumark‐Sztainer, D. (2006) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/j.jada.2005.10.029 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Self-citationNutrition Through the Life Cycle
Emerton, V. (2002) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/9781847559463 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Neumark‐Sztainer, D., Wall, M. M., Story, M. T., & Perry, C. L. (2003) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.22.1.88 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Self-citationModifying the healthy eating index to assess diet quality in children and adolescents
Feskanich, D., Rockett, H. R. H., & Colditz, G. A. (2004) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/j.jada.2004.06.020 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
An examination of at-home food preparation activity among low-income, food-insecure women
Mclaughlin, C., Tarasuk, V. S., & Kreiger, N. (2003) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/j.jada.2003.08.022 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Guess Who's Cooking? The Role of Men in Meal Planning, Shopping, and Preparation in US Families
Harnack, L., Story, M. T., MARTINSON, B., Neumark‐Sztainer, D., & Stang, J. L. (1998) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(98)00228-4 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Self-citationNutrition through the life cycle
Shetty, P. (2002) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/9781847559463-00001 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Betts, N. M., Amos, R. J., Keim, K., Peters, P., & Stewart, B. (1997) · Journal of Nutrition Education · doi:10.1016/s0022-3182(97)70158-4 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Students Cluster into 4 Groups According to the Factors Influencing their Dietary Intake
Horacek, T. M., & Betts, N. M. (1998) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(98)00333-2 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Dietary status and eating out practices of college students
Hertzler, A. A., & Frary, R. B. (1992) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(21)00749-5 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Food behavior of college students.
Hertzler, A. A., & Frary, R. B. (1989) · PubMed · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Parletta, N., Zarnowiecki, D., Cho, J., Wilson, A., Bogomolova, S., Villani, A., Itsiopoulos, C., Niyonsenga, T., Blunden, S., Meyer, B., et al. (2019) · Nutritional Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/1028415x.2017.1411320 · Cited by 629 · see citing works
Gaines, A., Robb, C. A., Knol, L. L., & Sickler, S. (2014) · International Journal of Consumer Studies · doi:10.1111/ijcs.12110 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Trends in consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Sweden between 1960 and 2010
Juul, F., & Hemmingsson, E. (2015) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980015000506 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Laska, M. N., Larson, N. I., Neumark-Sztainer, D., & Story, M. (2012) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980011003004 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Self-citationLaska, M. N., Hearst, M. O., Lust, K., Lytle, L. A., & Story, M. (2015) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980014002717 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationMalan, H., Watson, T. D., Slusser, W., Glik, D., Rowat, A. C., & Prelip, M. (2020) · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1016/j.jand.2019.06.003 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Laska, M. N., Graham, D., Moe, S. G., Lytle, L., & Fulkerson, J. (2011) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980010003186 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Vorage, L., Wiseman, N., Graca, J., & Harris, N. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12092582 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Watanabe, J. A., Nieto, J. A., Suarez-Diéguez, T., & Silva, M. (2024) · Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.nut.2024.112354 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Crimarco, A., Turner-McGrievy, G. M., Botchway, M., Macauda, M., Adams, S. A., Blake, C. E., & Younginer, N. (2020) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/0021934719895575 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
- Authors
- Larson, N. I., Perry, C. L., Story, M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Larson, Nicole I.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-12
- Volume
- 106
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2001-2007
- ISSN
- 0002-8223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2085366203
- Cited by
- 584
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 75 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 6.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service (R40-MC-00319)
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (T01 DP000112)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Lifestyle Studies
- Keywords
- cooking, cooking skills, young adults, diet quality, dietary intake, time constraints, fast food consumption, campus housing, race and ethnicity, sex differences, whole grain intake, fruit and vegetable intake, calcium intake, dietary fat intake
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Cooking, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Diet Surveys, Dietary Fats, Employment, Ethnicity, Female, Food Handling, Fruit, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Socioeconomic Factors, Students, Time Factors, Vegetables, Chi-Square Distribution, Linear Models, Sex Distribution, Self Efficacy
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
