Adherence
Frequent home cooking (≥7 dinners/week) is associated with higher overall diet quality (HEI-2015) compared to infrequent cooking (0-2 dinners/week), with the magnitude of benefit being significantly stronger in higher-income adults than in lower-income adults.
Cooking dinner at home more often, specifically aiming for 7 times a week, is linked to better diet quality. However, if you have a lower income, simply cooking more often may not significantly improve your diet quality unless you also have access to affordable, healthy ingredients. Focus on accessible healthy options like frozen vegetables to bridge the gap between cost and nutrition.
More frequent cooking at home is associated with higher Healthy Eating Index-2015 score overall (≥7 times/week: þ3·57 points, P < 0·001), among lower-income adults (≥7 times/week: þ2·55 points, P = 0·001) and among higher-income adults (≥7 times/week: þ5·07 points, P < 0·001).
Why this rating
Large, nationally representative cross-sectional sample (n=8668) with robust adjustment for covariates, but observational design limits causal inference.
Source
More frequent cooking at home is associated with higher Healthy Eating Index-2015 score
Julia A. Wolfson et al. · Public Health Nutrition · 2020
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