Cooking = Healthy

‘It's a hard road for parents whose children may turn their noses up at healthy food, but some experts think teaching children to cook at a young age is the answer.’-Fiona Hamilton-Fairley.

Having discovered the educational benefits that cooking can provide children, by reading some of the works of child phycologist Piaget, I decided to dig a little deeper into the need for my concept. I browsed through several articles about child safety in the kitchen, and the current abundance of child activity in the kitchen. One name kept popping up, Fiona Hamilton-Fairley. This woman Is a chef that developed her own catering company and soon become passionate about sharing her skill with others. After realising that her own children where not going to taught to cook at school she took it upon herself to create a kids cooking school. Hamilton-Fairley is very passionate about getting children involved in cooking with their parents and has all sorts of hints, tips and recipes.

From reading some of the articles that Hamilton-Fairley contributes to it became clear that a large if not the biggest befit from encouraging your children to cook is the eating habits you are enforcing without even noticing. There is scientific evidence to show that if children help prepare a healthy meal they are more likely to try it. It has also been proven that children who gain a knowledge of cooking at a young age are likely to value healthy food into their adult hood and are less likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes and other illness related to an unhealthy lifestyle.

For further reading on the influence of cooking to promote healthy living I would recommend this article

http://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2016/10/25/news/teaching-kids-to-cook-early-gives-them-a-head-start-in-life-749365/

Some other facts and figures from my reading-

• 1 in 10 accidents involving children take place in the kitchen

• younger children are more susceptible to burns and scolds, last year nearly 800 children under 12 were admitted to hospital with this variety of injury

• 41% of parents said they wish they had more time to cook with their children

• 24% said they would be more inclined to cook with their children if it was less messy