Mums throughout the UK are telling their friends lies about how well they are coping, a new survey has discovered.

Conducted by Netmums, the poll found that among the most common mistruths is how much home cooking is carried out and what children are being fed at meal times.

Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of the website, said: "No one is born knowing how to be a parent - you get along the best you can and it's often the support of other parents that gets us through the tough times."

The figures also showed that almost a quarter of mums play down the amount of TV they let their kids watch, while half tried to cover up their financial worries.

Cookery school owner Lynne Elliot recently told kare11.com that children should get involved in making recipes in order to give them confidence in the home kitchen later in life.