COOK & HEALTH NETWORK

WHO WE ARE

The Cook & Health Network is an informal network of academics who share an interest in researching the impact of home cooking and its replacement by away-from-home food preparation on individuals’ nutrition, health, economic and psychosocial status.

Xavier Allirot and Elena Urdaneta (formerly at the Basque Culinary Centre in San Sebastián, Spain) started the network and organized its first two meetings: the 1^st Cook and Health Symposium in San Sebastián – Basque Culinary Centre (2015) and the 2^nd Cook and Health Symposium in London – University of West London (2017).

Other network members come from Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics (Universidade Católica Portuguesa), College of Health and Human Sciences (Colorado State University), School of Public Health (University of Michigan), Institute of Health and Society (Newcastle University), School of Arts and Social Sciences (City, University of London) and the Department of Health Professions (Bern University of Applied Sciences).

Together we have been working in several projects, chiefly among them the organisation of the 3^rd Cook and Health Conference, with the aim of enlarging the network, deepening the cooperation between its members and increasing the relevance of its contribution to science and the society.

PROJECTS

First Cook & Health Symposium

Basque Culinary Centre, San Sebastián, Spain, November 24, 2015. Network members came together for the first time to share their findings on, and discuss the relationships between home cooking, eating behaviours and health.

Second Cook & Health Symposium

University of West London, United Kingdom, March 2, 2017. Keynote speakers, competitive oral and poster presenters, and roundtable participants came together to present and debate research on the impact of home cooking on diet and health.

Special Issue on Cooking, Health and Evidence

British Food Journal, May, 2018. Contributions to this Special Issue ranged from community-based interventions to experimental studies on cooking and food preparation, all focusing on the potential health outcomes of home cooking, skill interventions and related health policy

Meta-Analytical Review: effects of home cooking interventions targeting adults

PROSPERO, August, 2018. This review takes new stock of adult cooking interventions and their effectiveness up to 2018, in order to estimate the size and significance of any positive effects on diet and health outcomes. It also aims to clarify the role of domestic cooking skills as an important mediator between promoting home cooking and achieving actual behaviour and dietary changes.