Research indicates a disproportionately high percentage of men who live alone eat poorly, and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit wants to teach them how to cook.
It has released a series of online videos that show viewers simple cooking skills to improve their diets and overall health.
Each episode focuses on a few skills, including what tools the chef will need, knife skills, how to cook eggs and vegetables, preparing meat, and fixing mistakes in the kitchen.
Registered nutritionist with the health unit Karen Bellemore said there are a couple of reasons why that population tends not to cook for themselves.
"They have a low self-perceived food skill and often were embarrassed about this deficiency," she said.
Social isolation played a role too.
"Social isolation is a public health challenge," said Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai. "It affects other domains beyond food, but it affects health broadly, and I think its a very important point that people who are isolated are less likely to spend their energies, time or attention on cooking."
There is a new episode every two weeks to give novice cooks time to gain some proficiency with the skills they learn.
Bellemore said the health unit had offered the course in-person before the pandemic, but the online version appears to enjoy greater popularity.
"When we were offering it, we didn't have as much registration. It was a pretty low uptake, and compared to the views that we're having now, I do think it's a benefit," she said. "I think people, over the pandemic, tried to navigate their kitchen a little bit more."
There are five episodes available on the health unit's YouTube channel now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no6KpuxCc90
