Food literacy can described adequate? Optimizing cut-off scores for the short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Preventing obesity and non-communicable disease is possible by making the right eating habits from early ages, therefore increasing food literacy level might be enforced in the preventive programs. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study is to measure university students' food literacy level using "A short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) for adults" and determining cut-off point compared with health literacy. METHODS: Questionnaire was about Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test, Turkey Health Literacy SCALE-32 (TSOY-32) and Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed by calculating the specificity and sensitivity of the scale cut-off values, and the area under the curve (AUC) was computed. RESULTS:The score from SLFQ increased with the improvement of general health perception and having food label reading habit (respectively; p = 0.003; p < 0.001). The mean SFLQ score increases with the increased level of TSOY-32 health literacy (P < 0.001). Finally, according to the results, classification of individuals with SFLQ is ≥ 31 points as Adequate-Excellent food literacy and < 31 points as Inadequate-Limited food literacy. CONCLUSION: Describing food literacy in two categories will be easy to demonstrate the connection between food literacy and healthy food consumption behaviors.

Health literacy among adolescents and young adults in the Eastern Mediterranean region: a scoping review

“…The identified studies used various types of health literacy related to the following health topics: general health31 32 34 35 42–67; nutrition68–82; non-communicable diseases (NCDs)36 63; HIV83 84; e-health39 85–91; media92; physical health93 94; oral health38 95; medical96; disability67 97 98; mental health37 40 41 99–108; suicide109 110; and depression 33 111. These studies used 36 scales to measure health literacy, and these scales can be grouped into three categories: newly developed scales66 77 82 86 93 98; newly adapted and translated scales33 40 41 43 54 55 64 69 83 96 100 111; and previously adapted and translated scales 34 35 38 39 44–46 49 51–53 56–59 62 65 67 68 71–73 76 78–80 85 87–89 91 95 97 103 104 107–110 112 113…”

“…General and nutrition-related health literacy were the most common health literacy themes addressed. In Turkey, 12 studies reported problematic or inadequate levels of health literacy among secondary school, high school and university students 45–47 49 53 54 57 63 70 77 79 109. Out of the eight studies conducted in Iran,35 36 46 64 68 70 73 80 one study reported that most high school students had adequate health literacy36 while five reported the opposite 35 46 64 70 73.…”

“…Better health status among adolescents and young adults is associated with higher health literacy. Health status includes a wide variety of factors, such as routine health check-ups,45 65 self-perception of health,43 45 48 72 79 107 chronic disease status65 67 and regular medication intake 67. Having a healthcare professional in school was also associated with higher health literacy among adolescents 80.…”

“…Awareness about the importance of a healthy lifestyle has been associated with better health literacy 43 48 51 65. For example, sports activities, eating less fast food and reading food labels were associated with higher nutrition literacy in adolescents 79. Furthermore, two studies assessed weight status and BMI as predictors of health literacy 49 70.…”

Validation of the Short Food Literacy Questionnaire in the Representative Sample of Polish Internet Users

“…They found a positive moderate correlation between the FL score based on SFLQ and the HL score calculated on the Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (TSOY-32) among the sample of adult respondents. The next study in a group of university students from Turkey revealed that the SFLQ score is significantly positively associated with general health perception and the habit of reading food labels [ 22 ]. The Italian version of the SFLQ was used by Trieste et al in the study conducted among Italian consumers [ 23 ].…”