Food and Nutrition Literacy Status and Its Correlates in Iranian Senior High-School Students

Abstract

Background: Planning food and nutrition literacy (FNL) promoting interventions require a better understanding of the FNL status of the target group and its correlates. Aims: This study aimed to examine the FNL status and its determinants in Iranian senior high-school students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, socioeconomic, demographic, anthropometric measures, as well as academic performance of 626 senior high-school students were assessed. Besides, FNL and its six components (food and nutrition knowledge, functional skills, interactive skills, advocacy, critical analysis of information, and food label reading skill) were evaluated by a locally designed and validated, self-administered questionnaire.Results: The mean ± SD of the total FNL score was 52.1 ± 10.96, which is below the minimum adequate level of 60. The probability of high FNL knowledge score was significantly higher among students who majored in Natural Sciences (OR = 1.73, CI = 1.09-2.75), had better school performance (OR = 1.13, CI = 1.06-1.20) and higher SES score (OR = 1.20, CI = 1.01-1.44). The probability of higher score in food label reading skill was significantly lower in girls (OR=0.45, CI=0.31-0.67). Those who had a family member with the nutrition-related disease were more likely to have a higher score of food label reading skill (OR = 1.48, CI=1.01-1.64). Conclusion: The level of FNL in senior high-school students in Tehran was relatively low. These findings have key messages for the education system and curriculum designers to have more consideration in promoting food and nutrition-related knowledge and skills in schools.

Development and validation of a novel short-form nutrition literacy measurement tool for Chinese college students

“…Poor dietary habits are implicated in ∼20% of deaths worldwide world each year (3). As a crucial influencing factor of eating behavior, nutrition literacy affected people's diet choice and health (4)(5)(6)(7).…”

Assessing the relationship between nutrition literacy and eating behaviors among nursing students: A cross-sectional study

“…However, in our study, students obtained the lowest score in the skill application dimension of nutrition literacy [31]. This result may be due to the ease of access to a large volume of health and nutrition-related content today, causing students to become confused when selecting accurate and precise information and how to apply it effectively [7,30] The study results showed that the mean overall score of students' eating behavior was 3.18 out of 5. This result was consistent with Lee C-K et al, and Liday DM et al studies [18,32], but did not match Liao and colleagues' findings.…”

“…Additionally, 80% of participants in this study were found to have poor nutrition literacy [30]. In Ashoori et al, on Iranian youth who used our original questionnaire form, the average score for nutritional literacy was obtained as 52.1 out of 100, indicating low levels of nutritional literacy among Iranian youth and highlighting the need to improve their nutritional literacy skills [7]. The difference in nutrition literacy levels may be due to limited exposure to nutrition information among certain population groups, differences in individuals' education levels, societal pressures and norms, or socio-economic status.…”

“…In Iran, as a country with average income, high consumption of unhealthy fast foods and snacks, skipping breakfast, and low consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy products have been reported as common unhealthy eating behaviors among young people [7]. Therefore, improving healthy eating behavior has been considered as one of the main strategies to reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in developed and developing countries [8].…”

Beslenme Bilgi Düzeyi ve Sürdürülebilir Gıda Okuryazarlığı Arasındaki İlişkinin Değerlendirilmesi

“…Past research has focused on factors affecting food literacy, nutrition literacy, or food and nutrition literacy or the impact of these literacy levels on food intake and diet quality; or the relationship between nutrition education and sustainable and healthy eating behaviours. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between level of nutrition knowledge and sustainable food literacy. The results of this study indicated that participants with low nutrition knowledge had lower sustainable food knowledge scores than those in the medium and high nutrition knowledge groups.…”