--- description: Is cooking always healthier than eating out? A new study finds that preparing meals from popular TV chefs is linked to a higher BMI. title: How Cooking Shows Can Make You Fat image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt079a2776e9b2f3e1/698781243c1639581c451fa8/gettyimages_464151056.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Diet & Nutrition](/tag/dietnutrition/) ## Diet & Nutrition Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Can Watching Cooking Shows Lead to Weight Gain?  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 18, 2015 7:55 PM CUT  Paula Deen attends the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village during the 2015 Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine and Food Festival on February 22, 2015 in Miami Beach, Florida. Paula Deen attends the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village during the 2015 Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine and Food Festival on February 22, 2015 in Miami Beach, Florida.Larry Marano—2015 Larry Marano  by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 18, 2015 7:55 PM CUT Cooking is always healthier than not cooking—right? Not according to a new [study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666315000902 "undefined") published in the journal _Appetite_, which found that the more a woman prepared food she saw on a cooking show, the higher her BMI. The researchers surveyed about 500 women, with an average age of 27, about their weight, height and cooking habits. Getting information from cooking shows and social media were both associated with a higher BMI. **MORE**: [The Truth About Home Cooking](http://time.com/3483888/the-truth-about-home-cooking/ "undefined") Other studies have shown that merely watching someone else eat influences the way you eat—which is “the exact situation that may occur when people watch cooking shows on television,” the authors write. The study didn’t look at what foods the women actually consumed, mind you. Other research suggests that the foods featured on TV aren’t always healthier than eating out. One [study](http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e7607 "undefined") found that recipes by TV chefs in the U.K. had worse nutritional stats—more calories, more saturated fat and less fiber—than prepared food from supermarkets, which in and of itself is a pretty low bar for nutrition. **MORE**: [The Case Against Cooking](http://time.com/3486226/the-case-against-cooking/ "undefined") Scroll through your feed of Instagram dinner pics, and you’ll realize your friends aren’t helping, either. The authors speculate that social media was linked to BMI “because people may post their most indulgent “picture-perfect” recipes,” they write. Need help deciding what to make for dinner? Check out the [50 healthiest foods of all time](http://time.com/3724505/50-healthiest-foods/ "undefined")—nothing bacon-wrapped here, promise. Your BMI will thank you. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/"},"headline":"Can Watching Cooking Shows Lead to Weight Gain?","datePublished":"2015-03-18T19:55:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:15:33.348Z","description":"Is cooking always healthier than eating out? A new study finds that preparing meals from popular TV chefs is linked to a higher BMI.","url":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","diet","Weight loss","BMI","Cooking","Recipes","weight gain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt079a2776e9b2f3e1/698781243c1639581c451fa8/gettyimages_464151056.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt079a2776e9b2f3e1/698781243c1639581c451fa8/gettyimages_464151056.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village Featuring MasterCard Grand Tasting Tents & KitchenAid® Culinary Demonstrations - 2015 Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival","caption":"Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village Featuring MasterCard Grand Tasting Tents & KitchenAid® Culinary Demonstrations - 2015 Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival","creditText":"Larry Marano—2015 Larry Marano","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/","name":"Can Watching Cooking Shows Lead to Weight Gain?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Truth About Fat","description":"When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uYGhfNfS/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-12T14:12:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/","duration":"PT5M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3749426/cooking-tv-recipes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```