Eating a home-cooked meal up to five times a week could add years to your life, researchers have found.

People who cooked at home were 47% more likely to be alive after ten years.

Lead author Emeritus Professor Mark Wahlqvist from Monash University said that those who cooked more often had a better and more varied diet.

The results also indicated women lived longer than men when there was a need to cook for a spouse, suggesting that women are more likely to find physiological health benefits from the pleasure in cooking for others.