One of the reasons for the high rates of obesity and other health problems in the U.S., researchers think, is that people cook at home a lot less than they used to. Meals eaten out tend to be laden with more calories, more fat, and so on than those eaten at home. Cooking shows, write researchers Lizzy Pope, Lara Latimer, and Brian Wansink in an article in the journal Appetite, could help ameliorate this problem, but it’s not clear they do.
That’s because there are two possibilities for the effect these shows, which have surged in popularity in recent years, could have on viewers. “If watching cooking shows helps teach viewers skills to prepare healthful meals at home, then watching food TV might promote health (Clifford, Anderson, Auld, & Champ, 2009),” the researchers write. “Conversely, if the overconsumption and unhealthiness often portrayed help set cultural norms that reflect eating excess calories and fat, watching food TV might have a negative affect on one’s weight and health. Consistent with this view, a recent study performed in the United Kingdom, found that TV chefs’ recipes were high in fat, saturated fat, and sodium compared to the World Health Organization’s nutritional guidelines (Howard, Adams, & White, 2012). The TV recipes also contained more calories, protein, and fat than supermarket pre-prepared meals, which traditionally are not that nutritious either (Howard et al., 2012).”
To better understand the effects cooking shows have on viewers’ dietary habits, the researchers surveyed a group of 501 women between 20 and 25 years of age (they were interested in this age group because young women are still the most important “nutritional gatekeepers” for families) on their cooking, viewing, and recipe-gathering habits, as well as their height and weight, hoping that some potentially important correlations would pop out.
They found that among those who watch cooking shows, the more frequently a given survey respondent cooked, the higher their body-mass index was likely to be. For those who didn’t cook from scratch much, watching a cooking show wasn’t correlated with a higher BMI. Even though the sample group was a pretty narrow category of people, this is an interesting reversal of the usual weight-control advice that it’s better to cook at home: For this sample of women, at least, those who watched cooking shows were likely to be skinnier (or to have a lower BMI) if they didn’t follow those shows’ recipes. (The researchers didn’t detect this pattern with any other recipe source — blogs, magazines, etc.)
It could simply be the case that cooking shows, relying as they do on food-porn effects to keep viewers watching, are pushing unhealthier recipes. As the researchers note, “Although some cooking shows present healthy recipes, many others present more indulgent fare.” Maybe Anthony Bourdain had a point when he went off on Paula Deen.
"Mmoja wa sababu za viwango vya juu vya unene wa kupita kiasi na matatizo mengine ya afya nchini Marekani, watafiti wanafikiri, ni kwamba watu wanapika nyumbani kidogo kuliko walivyokuwa wakifanya.""" Chakula kinachotumiwa nje huwa na kalori nyingi, mafuta mengi, na kadhalika kuliko kile kinachotumiwa nyumbani. "Kulingana na watafiti Lizzy Pope, Lara Latimer na Brian Wansink, ""Mapishi ya kuoka yanaweza kusaidia kupunguza tatizo hili, lakini haijulikani wazi.""" Hiyo ni kwa sababu kuna uwezekano mbili kwa ajili ya athari hizi inaonyesha, ambayo wameongezeka katika umaarufu katika miaka ya hivi karibuni, inaweza kuwa na watazamaji. "Kama kuangalia vipindi vya kupikia husaidia kufundisha watazamaji ujuzi wa kutayarisha chakula chenye afya nyumbani, basi kutazama TV ya chakula inaweza kukuza afya (Clifford, Anderson, Auld, & Champ, 2009), "waandishi wa utafiti." Kwa upande mwingine, ikiwa matumizi ya kupita kiasi na afya mbaya mara nyingi huonyeshwa husaidia kuweka kanuni za kitamaduni ambazo zinaonyesha kula kalori na mafuta ya ziada, kutazama TV ya chakula inaweza kuwa na athari hasi kwa uzito na afya ya mtu. Utafiti uliofanywa hivi karibuni nchini Uingereza uligundua kwamba mapishi ya wapishi wa TV yalikuwa na mafuta mengi, mafuta yaliyojaa, na sodiamu ikilinganishwa na miongozo ya lishe ya Shirika la Afya Ulimwenguni (WHO). "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, mapishi ya TV pia yana kalori, protini na mafuta zaidi kuliko vyakula vilivyotengenezwa mapema katika maduka makubwa, ambavyo kwa kawaida havina lishe nzuri (Howard et al., 2012) ""Kwa kuelewa vizuri athari za maonyesho ya kupikia kwa tabia za chakula za watazamaji, watafiti walichunguza kikundi cha wanawake 501 kati ya miaka 20 na 25 (walipendezwa na kikundi hiki cha umri kwa sababu wanawake vijana bado ni ""walinzi wa lishe"" kwa familia) juu ya tabia zao za kupika, kutazama, na kukusanya mapishi." Katika utafiti huo, walipata kwamba wale wanaotazama vipindi vya kuoka, mara nyingi zaidi walipokuwa wakipika, index yao ya uzito wa mwili ilikuwa ya juu zaidi. Kwa wale ambao hawakufanya kupika kutoka mwanzo sana, kuangalia show ya kupika haikuhusiana na BMI ya juu. Ingawa kikundi cha sampuli kilikuwa kikundi kidogo cha watu, hii ni kinyume cha kupendeza cha ushauri wa kawaida wa kudhibiti uzito kwamba ni bora kupika nyumbani: Kwa sampuli hii ya wanawake, angalau, wale waliotazama maonyesho ya kupikia walikuwa na uwezekano wa kuwa nyembamba (au kuwa na BMI ya chini) ikiwa hawakufuata mapishi ya maonyesho hayo. (Watafiti hawakugundua muundo huu na chanzo kingine chochote cha mapishi - blogi, magazeti, nk.) "Hata hivyo, kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba vipindi vya kupikia vinavyotegemea ""vitu vya chakula vya porn"" ili kuwafanya watazamaji waendelee kutazama, vinapendekeza mapishi yasiyo ya afya." "Wanafunzi wa shule ya sekondari wanasema, ""Wakati wa kuandaa chakula, kuna watu wengi ambao wanakubaliana na vyakula vyao, lakini kwa sababu ya kufurahisha, Anthony Bourdain alishindwa na Paula Dean."