Study on knowledge and attitude of local students and students in hostel /PG (18-29 years) living in Vadodara city on home-based cooking practices and its impact on nutrient intake

The presented study had a focus on knowledge and attitude of home and hostel-based cooking practices in students aged 18-29 years on how the knowledge of cooking had an impact on the eating habits and the importance of family involvement in the same. Subjects were selected using snowball sampling technique. Important findings of the study were, majority of the subjects who knew how to cook were females in both home (67.16%) and hostel-based (69.23%) settings. Taste of the food (38%) followed by other reasons like feasibility, interest, knowledge etc. (32.50%) and lack of time (25%) were the major factors which facilitated ordering food from outside. The results also showed that, full meals were preferred by majority (49%) followed by ready to eat (25%) and the least preferred were snacks (17.50%) for hostel-based students while ordering outside food. For students staying at home, majority of the subjects (98.50%) liked the taste of home-made and they cooked a perfect meal when they were hungry. Ordering food from outside was least preferred (16.50%). Students showed positive attitude towards learning to cook and improving their basic cooking skills. Students showed positive attitude towards will to learn cooking, due to taste enhancement and healthier option of cooking by self.