Young people believe that they can consume an unhealthy diet as long as they exercise, and some have such poor skills in the kitchen, they consider microwaving a pizza ‘cooking', a study has found.

Researchers from three UK universities interviewed young people aged between 16 and 20 years. Almost all were still living at home and attending either school or college.

The researchers found that most of the young people were not worried about their health because they believed that exercise would compensate for a bad diet and even smoking.

When it came to their cooking skills, some admitted they could not cook or did not feel confident in the kitchen. Most of the food they consumed was bought by their parents and heated up by them. This included ready meals, pizza and chips.

"Cooking tended to be described as ‘jar' based and microwaving a pizza was considered to be cooking, as was cheese on toast, which could indicate limited cooking skills.

"The findings indicate that young people lack confidence in their preparation and cooking skills, not being ‘trusted in the kitchen' to fend for themselves," the researchers suggested.

The study also found that the young people did not tend to have fixed meal times, with most of them arriving home when ever they wanted and heating up food then.

Furthermore, even if food was eaten at home, this did not mean it was ‘cooked' there, as many teenagers ordered in takeaways or brought food home from fast food restaurants.

One young person who did not live at home admitted to living mainly on takeaways as he considered these better value and more convenient.

The research by Lancaster, Newcastle and Durham Universities was published in the Journal of Public Health.