Safefood: The impact of cooking and food-related skills on the healthiness of diets
Overview
This research will provide a holistic approach to understanding healthful dietary food skills on the IOI and their impact on an individuals’ diet. By integrating social science perspectives with those of nutrition and gastronomy we will develop and validate a food skills measurement tool that would help to explore the current level of cooking skills, where these skills originated, how these skills have been developed, the most effective way to enhance these skills through learning and how they relate to dietary practices. This research is conducted with a view to enhancing current understandings of how people use food related cooking and other skills and to recommend ways of improving these skills in the future to promote healthful diets.
Specific objectives
- Develop, pilot and validate a quantitative tool for assessing adult’s food skills on the on the island of Ireland (IOI).
- Quantitatively assess the food related skills of a representative sample of adults aged 20-60 years on the IOI and identify predictors of skills.
- Assess the relationship between food related skills and the healthy eating among a representative sample of adults aged 20-60 years on the IOI.
- Using qualitative research techniques investigate the barriers and facilitators that adults face in improving food skills, in addition to exploring the mechanisms and processes underpinning the learning of cooking skills.
- Compare the findings for the 20-39 and 40-60 year age groups.
- To formulate recommendations on mechanisms, processed and methods for enhancing cooking and other food skills among the adult population.
Surrey and City University will advise and comment on the design, protocol and analysis of the studies, attend meetings and comment on the reports.
Funder
Team
Contact
Professor Monique Raats
Professor; Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre
Biography
Professor Monique Raats is a senior academic and research leader with more than 35 years of experience in developing interdisciplinary research, securing external funding, and translating evidence into policy, practice and societal impact. Originally trained as a nutrition scientist, she has built an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research portfolio spanning behavioural and social sciences, public health, health services research, healthy ageing, sustainability, governance and implementation.
Professor Raats is an inclusive, evidence-led leader with extensive experience directing large multidisciplinary programmes and fostering collaborations across universities, government, healthcare, social care, industry and international organisations. She previously served as Founding Co-Director of the University of Surrey's Institute for Sustainability and as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, where she led research strategy, infrastructure development and cross-faculty/university collaboration.
She is Director of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health (FCBH) Research Centre, one of Europe's leading centres for interdisciplinary food-related research. Together with the Department of Nutritional Sciences, FCBH was awarded the prestigious 2017/2018 Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of its internationally outstanding research and impact.
Research
Professor Raats' research focuses on understanding how individuals, organisations and systems influence food-related behaviours, health outcomes and sustainable lifestyles. Her work integrates behavioural, social, policy and systems perspectives to address major societal challenges including healthy ageing, obesity, public health, food security and sustainability.
Key areas of research include:
- Behavioural and policy interventions that support healthier and more sustainable lifestyles
- Social, ethical and governance dimensions of food, health and sustainability challenges
- Food systems research that examines the interactions of stakeholders across complex food environments
- Innovation in food consumer science through new data sources, data linkage methods and interdisciplinary approaches
- Public health nutrition and the implementation of evidence into policy and practice
Her research has employed a wide range of qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches and has informed policy development, health promotion initiatives and stakeholder engagement across multiple sectors.
Career and Scholarly Contributions
Prior to joining the University of Surrey, Professor Raats held positions at the Institute of Food Research (now the Quadram Institute), Health Education Authority and University of Oxford.
She has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, numerous professional and policy publications, over 20 book chapters, and has co-edited two influential volumes:
- The Psychology of Food Choice (2006)
- Food for the Ageing Population (1st edition 2009; 2nd edition 2016)
Her work has contributed significantly to the development of behavioural nutrition, food choice research, healthy ageing and public health policy.
National and International Leadership
From 2011 to 2018, Professor Raats served on the UK Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and was a member of its Subgroup on Maternal and Child Nutrition, contributing evidence and expertise to national nutrition policy and guidance.
She is also a founding member of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Between 2001 and 2006 she served on the Society's Board of Directors and was Secretary from 2004 to 2006. ISBNPA has become the leading international learned society for researchers working at the intersection of diet, physical activity, behaviour and health, and supports excellence in research through its annual congress and the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Coordinator
Professor Moira Dean
Institute for Global Food Security
See profileResearcher
Giovanna Flates
Project researcher
Research groups and centres
Our research is supported by research groups and centres of excellence.
Research themes
Find out more about our research at Surrey: