Culinary skills are defined as the confidence, attitude, and the application of one’s individual knowledge in performing culinary tasks, and their development may be associated with better diet quality and better health status. This study aimed to analyze the association between cooking skills, overweight, and obesity in undergraduates. This is a descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study, with data collected between October 2020 and March 2021, with undergraduate students (n = 823) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Participants answered the online Brazilian Cooking Skills and Healthy Eating Questionnaire Evaluation, BCSQ, which included socioeconomic information. Logistic regressions were used to assess the associations of cooking skills with overweight and obesity. From the total of the students, 70.8% were female, with a median age of 23 (21–30) years; 43.6% were with overweight or obesity; 48.8% were eutrophic; and 7.7% underweight. Overweight and obesity were significantly associated with low levels of culinary self-efficacy and self-efficacy in the use of fruits, vegetables, and seasonings in the bivariate analysis. The logistic regressions showed that living with other people and eating out were associated with higher chances of overweight and obesity. Sharing the responsibility for preparing meals and a high self-efficacy in the use of fruits, vegetables, and seasonings were associated with lower chances for overweight/obesity. Overall, our study showed that overweight and obesity were associated with lower cooking skills in the studied undergraduates. Therefore, the study demonstrates that culinary skills can be explored in educational programs that aim to reduce overweight/obesity in students.

Background/Objectives: Cooking skills refer to the confidence, attitude, and application of knowledge to perform culinary preparations. This study aimed to characterize the cooking skills and associated variables in undergraduates from public universities in northeast Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, with data collected between October 2020 and March 2021. Undergraduates (n = 1203) from two federal institutions participated, the Federal University of Alagoas—UFAL, and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte—UFRN, in northeast Brazil. The Brazilian Questionnaire for the Assessment of Cooking Skills and Healthy Eating was used to assess cooking skills. The questionnaire was sent to institutional e-mails and answered online. Results: Most students (63.6%) presented high cooking skills, 35.6% intermediate cooking skills, and 0.8% low cooking skills. Logistic regressions showed that students who declared not having learned to cook alone/internet/books/TV programs (AOR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.175–2.17) were more likely to have low/intermediate cooking skills. The high availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables (AOR = 0.29; 95% CI = 0.18–0.49) and the high knowledge of cooking terms and techniques were inversely associated with low/intermediate cooking skills (AOR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.32–0.56). Gender, age, and time available for cooking were not associated with cooking skills. Conclusions: Most of the students analyzed presented high cooking skills, and factors such as the way they learned how to cook, the availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables, and cooking knowledge were associated with their cooking skills. Given this, public policy measures aimed at the university students studied should provide instruction on food preparation, foster culinary knowledge, and encourage and favor the availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables, positively impacting diet quality and health.

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a insegurança alimentar na comunidade acadêmica durante a pandemia. Estudo transversal com coleta em questionário online entre outubro de 2020 e fevereiro de 2021 com alunos de graduação e pós-graduação, servidores e docentes. O questionário continha variáveis socioeconômicas e a Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, já validada. A idade média dos participantes foi 27 anos, sendo maioria do sexo feminino (65,7%) e 30,2% possuíam renda entre 1 e 3 salários mínimos. A insegurança alimentar foi maior entre os graduandos com 34,4% insegurança alimentar leve, 10,6% insegurança alimentar moderada e 5,5% insegurança alimentar severa. Regressões logísticas mostraram que graduandos e pós-graduandos tiveram maiores OR para insegurança alimentar, com o aumento ou redução da renda e do peso associados a maiores chances de insegurança alimentar durante a pandemia. O estudo demonstrou presença significativa da insegurança alimentar na comunidade acadêmica, principalmente entre alunos de graduação e pós-graduação.