Involvement in Home Cooking Activities Is Inversely Associated with Emotional Problems Among Brazilian Adolescents

Background/Objectives: Involvement in home cooking is associated with a healthy diet. However, its relationship with emotional problems has not been investigated among adolescents, including loneliness, sadness, psychological stress, and suicidal ideation. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between involvement in home cooking and these emotional problems among Brazilian adolescents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated 1032 participants aged 14 to 19 years enrolled in nine public state schools in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil, 2025. The “Involvement in Home Cooking” questionnaire for Brazilian adolescents was used. Emotional problems (loneliness, sadness, psychological stress, and suicidal ideation) were assessed using validated questionnaires. Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to identify the association between the variables studied, considering potential confounding factors. Results: Adolescents who “always” participated in meal planning had a lower prevalence of loneliness; those who “sometimes” participated in food selection/purchasing had lower prevalences of sadness, loneliness, and psychological stress, while those who “always” participated in this activity had lower prevalences of loneliness and suicidal ideation; and those who “sometimes” participated in meal preparation for the family had lower prevalences of sadness, loneliness, and psychological stress, while those who “always” participated in it had lower prevalences of sadness and loneliness (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Involvement in home cooking was inversely associated with emotional problems among Brazilian adolescents. This association reinforces the importance of considering domestic culinary routines in strategies aimed at promoting adolescents’ emotional well-being.