Quality Time In The Kitchen Can Set Kids Up For Life

Parents are wasting precious time with their kids watching TV rather than spending quality time teaching them life skills such as cooking or playing active games outdoors, a new survey by home baking expert, McDougalls, reveals today.

The survey shows that the average parent spends around 2hrs per day with their kids, which, 60% say, they spend mostly, watching TV, rather than reading, playing or cooking with their kids. Teaching kids life skills such as cooking will interest them in good, nutritious food and show them that activities that are good for them can also be fun and rewarding.

The McDougalls survey highlights that those parents who learned to cook as children are less likely to rely on ready meals and twice as likely to be interested in cooking their own healthy meals. Furthermore, two thirds of people questioned who didn’t learn to cook as kids said they wished that they had been taught.

A massive 87% of respondents said their kids couldn’t make simple treats like cookies and 66% didn’t know how to boil an egg. However, nearly 55% knew how to heat a ready meal in the microwave - which may indicate that parents are becoming more and more reliant on ready meals rather than balanced meals from scratch.

From the survey results, it would seem like this is an issue that won’t be going away in the near future. Parents aged 20 - 25 were the least likely to teach their kids cooking skills, with only half saying they try to encourage their kids’ culinary efforts.

Celebrity chef and mum, Lesley Waters, who is backing the McDougalls campaign, comments: “I am sure that one of the reasons I’m so passionate about good food and cooking today is because, from a very early age, my Mum encouraged me into the kitchen. As far as I’m concerned kids are never too young to learn about good food and with easy to use, quality baking kits like the new McDougalls Let’s Cook savoury & sweet selection, there is no excuse for any parent - whatever the level of their own cooking skills - not to teach their kids the basics.”

McDougalls has just launched the UK’s only savoury and sweet, real food baking kits for kids, Let’s Cook, which is a great tool to use to teach children basic skills such as kneading, rolling and mixing. With no artificial colourings or flavourings, the kits are perfect for lunchboxes or snacks, whilst also ensuring some real family fun! The McDougalls Let’s Cook Scrummy Pizza Swirls, Tear ‘n’ Share Garlic Dough Balls, Easy Peasy Mini Muffins and Golden Chewy Flapjacks kits are priced at £1.99 and are available in Tesco and Waitrose.