LONDON, August 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

New research lifts the lid on British families' kitchen confidence

• Nearly three-quarters of children aged nine years old don't know how to boil an egg
• 68 per-cent of parents said they only cook with their children once a month or less, with 14% saying they never do
• 41 per-cent of parents said they wish they had more time to cook with their children

A new study shows that despite families regularly tucking in to watch cookery shows such as MasterChef, Come Dine with Me and The Great British Bake Off, there are many children across the country that aren't in the kitchen learning one of the most important life skills: cooking.

With the launch of her 'How to Cook' book almost 20 years ago Delia Smith predicted the nation's basic cooking skills were on the decline, and now it seems as though the prediction is coming true as nearly three-quarters of children aged nine don't know how to boil an egg and a further two-fifths are unsure of how to peel a potato.

Commissioned by UNCLE BEN'S®, more than 80 per-cent of parents in the Kitchen Confidence study said that cooking with their kids was important to teach them a valuable skill for life. However, only 32% of parents said they were cooking with their kids more than once a month and a further 14% of parents said they never cook with their kids.  

Despite these findings, 41% of parents said they wish they had more time to cook with their children and that they would be more inclined to do so if it was less messy (24%) and if their children were more interested (25%) in spending time in the kitchen.

Kid's cooking expert Fiona Hamilton-Fairley said that by not learning to cook, kids are missing out on essential 'life preparation' skills which could also lead to unhealthy eating habits later in life.

"We know the impact that cooking and eating as a family has on health, but we also know the challenges of today's busy lifestyle and getting kids to be enthusiastic and engaged in the kitchen," said Fiona Hamilton-Fairley, CEO and Principal of The Kids' Cookery School in London.

The research comes as UNCLE BEN'S® expands its Ben's Beginners™ programme - to inspire families to cook together and increase their confidence in the kitchen - by providing online interactive, step-by-step cooking instructions and family-friendly recipes.

Fiona Hamilton-Fairley said, "UNCLE BEN'S® believes that cooking is an essential life skill as important as reading or writing and have created the Ben's Beginners™ digital hub to provide families with helpful tools to learn to cook in a fun and exciting way."

The Ben's Beginners™ Digital Hub has fun interactive challenges for kids to develop skills like stirring, chopping, pouring and peeling and help create healthy and easy family-friendly recipes. As part of Ben's Beginners, families are encouraged to put their skills to the test over the coming months and set aside time to participate in International Cook with Your Kids Day on Saturday 15^th October.

Parents can find out more about Ben's Beginners™ at http://beginners.unclebens.co.uk/ and share their creations on social media via #LookWhatWeMade.

Notes to editors:  

About the UNCLE BEN'S® Brand 

The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, the number one rice brand in the world, is proud to offer a wide range of rice dishes with flavours and textures that will help bring more to your meals, both for savoury main courses and convenient side dishes. The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand offers a wide variety of white, whole grain brown, and flavoured rices in cook times ranging from 30 minutes to 90 seconds, as well as rice for food service operations such as restaurants, schools and hospitals. The first mass-produced parboiled rice, UNCLE BEN'S® Brand products can be found in more than 100 countries worldwide. The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand products are manufactured by Mars Food, part of Mars, Incorporated. For more information, visit https://www.unclebens.co.uk .

About Fiona Hamilton-Fairley  

Fiona is the CEO and Principal of The Kids' Cookery School and passionate cookery teacher and food campaigner.

Fiona's vocation for teaching cookery was sparked when she began to teach in adult education across many London boroughs. Fiona founded KCS in 1995, when she began to teach children in her own home when she realised that her own children would not learn to cook at school.  

Fiona has published 4 cookery books, I Can't Cook, which was aimed at adults with little knowledge of cookery, I Can't Cook: Entertaining, The Kids cookbook a small pictorial book with easy step by step guides to making simple recipes for children and Little Cooks aimed at teaching children of all ages how to cook delicious recipe's from scratch.

About the Kitchen Confidence Survey 

Conducted by Mars Food North America, results from a nationally representative survey of a total 2,012 parents of children under 18 years old within the household conducted in the UK from June 27, 2016 through July 8, 2016, and managed by YouGov.

SOURCE UNCLE BEN’S