WWII campaign to educate about meat alternatives

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March 17, 2009

WELL

Who's Cooking? (For Health, It Matters)

By TARA PARKER-POPE

You may be cooking more these days. But is your cooking healthier?

In this economic climate, it's no surprise that more and more people are making

their own meals from scratch. Food & Wine magazine says home cooking is the

hottest food trend of 2009, and the market-research firm Information Resources

says supermarket shoppers are cooking more from scratch and spending more on

basic cooking ingredients than on convenient but costly frozen and refrigerated

foods.

Home-cooked meals are typically more healthful than those prepared at

restaurants. But just how much more healthful depends on who's doing the

cooking, where the recipe comes from, and even the dishes in which the food is

served.

Studies show that the biggest influence on family eating habits is the person

who buys and prepares the food. These " nutritional gatekeepers, " as researchers

call them, influence more than 70 percent of the foods we eat, according to a

2006 report in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association — not just home

meals but children's lunches, snacks eaten outside the home, and even what

family members order at restaurants.

Public health researchers first identified the role of nutritional gatekeeper

during World War II, when meat shipments to the troops threatened to create a

protein crisis at home. The goal was to educate families about alternatives to

meat, but it wasn't clear at whom to direct the information campaign.

At the time, many people believed that husbands and children strongly influenced

the foods served in the home. But research led by the anthropologist Margaret

Mead found that the wives and mothers who bought and prepared the food had far

more influence than anyone realized, including the women themselves.

These days, the family gatekeeper may be a mother or a father, a grandparent, a

housekeeper or a nanny. And Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at

Cornell, says these people need to be aware of their importance to family

nutrition.

A gatekeeper who struggles with unhealthy habits and eating choices will

typically pass those problems on to family members. By the same token,

gatekeepers who improve their habits can improve the health of the whole family.

To learn more about gatekeepers, the Cornell researchers queried 770 family

cooks about their personalities, cooking methods and favorite ingredients. Five

distinct types emerged:

" Giving " cooks (22 percent) are enthusiastic about cooking and specialize in

comfort food, particularly home-baked goodies.

" Methodical " cooks (18 percent) rely heavily on recipes, so their cooking is

strongly influenced by the cookbook they use.

" Competitive " cooks (13 percent) think less about health and more on making the

most impressive dish possible.

" Healthy " cooks (20 percent) often serve fish and use fresh ingredients, but

taste isn't the primary goal.

" Innovative " cooks (19 percent) like to experiment with different ingredients,

cooking methods and cuisines, a process that tends to lead to more healthful

cooking.

A quiz that can help you determine your cooking personality is at

nytimes.com/well. Knowing your type is " going to tell you where your biases

are, " Dr. Wansink said.

" A lot of giving cooks believe they are healthy cooks, but they are by far the

least healthy, " he added. On the other hand, " if you like food, then the healthy

cook is not necessarily the person you want to hang out with. "

" They will trade off a lot for health, " Dr. Wansink went on. " But innovative

cooks have the best eye for freshness, yet there is still a big emphasis on

taste. If you like great food and still want to eat reasonably healthy, the

innovative cook is the person to hook up with. "

Home cooks also need to pay attention to the source of their recipes. Research

from Cornell and New Mexico State University shows that even some cookbook

recipes have fallen victim to the supersizing trends made popular by fast-food

restaurants. They examined seven editions of " The Joy of Cooking, " published

from 1936 to 2006. In 14 of 18 recipes studied, the calorie content had surged

by an average of 928 calories, or 44 percent per recipe. Then there's the

" tablescape, " the placement and size of dishes, bowls, silverware and drinking

glasses. In his book " Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think " (Bantam,

2006), Dr. Wansink notes that these seemingly innocuous items can increase

consumption by more than 20 percent.

For example, beverages other than water should be served in tall, skinny

glasses; studies show that even professional bartenders overpour when the glass

is short and wide. We pile more food on larger plates and scoop up larger

portions when the serving spoon is large. In one experiment, Cornell nutrition

professors and graduate students were invited to an ice cream party, and

attendees were given different-size bowls and scoops.

Even among these nutrition experts, those given larger bowls and scoops had 57

percent more ice cream.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/health/17well.html