A short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) for adults: Findings from a Swiss validation study

Abstract

The short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) was developed to measure a broad range of skills including functional, interactive, and critical elements of FL. This study evaluated SFLQ measurement properties. We used a workplace intervention trial to reduce salt intake in Switzerland to explore the underlying structure of the questionnaire with 350 respondents and identify the ideal number of SFLQ items to capture the different elements of FL. Exploratory factor analysis showed a unidimensional structure of the final 12-item questionnaire. A sum score based on all 12 items (Cronbach's α = 0.82) showed expected positive associations with health literacy and knowledge of recommended salt intake. The findings indicate the SFLQ is a feasible and reliable tool to assess FL among adults that can be helpful in public health practices focusing on FL.

Towards the Implementation of a Conceptual Framework of Food and Nutrition Literacy: Providing Healthy Eating for the Population

“…On the other hand, they focused on individuals' capacity to take health enhancing actions aimed at improving nutritional health and achieving a sustainable food system. These characteristics of the FL construct recurred in other definitions proposed in the reviewed literature [15,16].…”

“…Some other verbs were exclusive to the FL construct and referred to individuals' relationship with food (i.e., to select/purchase/prepare/preserve, to navigate/engage/participate, to support, to respect, to protect, to advocate) [10,12,15,37,39,41]. Finally, the concept of empowerment as the actions following from individuals' food knowledge and awareness often recurred when reviewing FL conceptualizations [10,11,36].…”

“…When either FL or NL are achieved, individuals' nutritional health can be enhanced. However, the accomplishment of a sustainable food system represents a prerogative of the FL construct [12,15,16,38].…”

“…In 2014, based on the perspectives of both experts and young people, Vidgen and Gallegos [10] developed their idea of FL, proposing that it involves a wide range of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that provide individuals with the capacity to preserve diet quality. According to Vidgen and Gallegos [10], the authors of six papers expanded the perspective towards the health dimension, including the promotion of nutritional health and a sustainable food system through individuals' food choices [11][12][13][14][15][16]. The authors of seven previous papers emphasized the potential role of FL and NL as tools to achieve both population health and environmental outcomes.…”

“…"Food literacy as a comprehensive concept including a variety of skills and abilities needed for a healthy relationship with food and to participate and engage for a sustainable food system." [15] (p. 275).…”