A study of nearly 200 British men and women in their early 30s found that, although half of the women worked full time, they still shouldered most of the responsibility for making sure their household was fed.

The rise of celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver has made cooking more acceptable a pastime to the modern man, say researchers from Newcastle University’s Human Nutrition Research Centre, who carried out the study, which aims to help with health promotion policies.

But whereas some of the men surveyed saw cooking as a hobby and a chance to be creative, women had a more practical approach and were largely relied upon to do the day-to-day cooking and shopping tasks.

The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is published in the British Food Journal. The results, which highlight how important women continue to be in influencing food choices, could help shape health intervention policies.

Lead author, Dr Amelia Lake, a Newcastle University research fellow, commented: “Women have made great progress in terms of equal opportunities over the last few decades so it surprised us to find that many women, even in this relatively young age group, assumed the traditional female role of chief cook and food shopper.”

“Celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have helped change the image of cooking as ‘women’s work’ and many cook books are aimed at men. Yet our research suggested men like to use cooking as a chance to show off occasionally, while women are left with the day-to-day chores.”

“Some of the men we surveyed viewed cooking as more of a hobby - and indeed it’s usual to find meals like barbeques, Sunday lunches and speciality dishes like curries are a man’s culinary showpieces.”

Of the 198 study participants 79% were married or co-habiting. Among the women, 79% were mainly responsible for their household’s food shopping and 72% were mainly responsible for preparing and cooking food.

The reasons given for this ranged from women having more time to shop and cook if they worked part-time to the belief that women made healthier food choices. Some women said they did the shopping because they thought could do it faster than their partner, who was often tempted by ‘unnecessary treats’.

One-quarter of the women surveyed said they were responsible for food shopping and preparation because they were more skilled than their partners in planning, budgeting, preparing and knowing their family’s food preferences.

Dr Lake, a registered dietitian, said the findings highlighted the importance of practical cooking lessons in schools as a way towards changing traditional family dynamics. “One reason for our findings could be that many of our study participants grew up in households that were traditionally structured, with their mothers in charge of most domestic duties,” she said. “With this as their key reference point, our study couples perhaps easily conformed to gender stereotypes.”

Dr Lake added: “This work shows how important it is to consider the role of women when developing health intervention policies. Health professionals should also consider this when giving advice on healthy lifestyles and eating. For instance, there’s no point solely advising a diabetic male on how to structure his diet when he isn’t doing the food shopping or cooking - you need to see his wife, too!”