Food and Nutrition Literacy (FNLIT) is Associated to Healthy Eating Behaviors in Children

The objective of the current study was to investigate associations between food and nutrition literacy (FNLIT) and eating behaviors of elementary school children in Tehran, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 803 students aged 10–12 years were participated from 44 primary schools in Tehran, Iran. A valid, reliable self-administered questionnaire was used to investigate participants’ food and nutrition literacy. A research-made questionnaire was used to assess eating behaviors of the students. Furthermore, the multinomial adjusted odds ratios of food and nutrition literacy for eating behaviors were analyzed.

Food and nutrition literacy cognitive domain included understanding food and nutrition information and nutritional health knowledge. Food and nutrition literacy skill domain included functional, interactive, critical food and nutrition literacy, food choice and food label literacy. High levels of food and nutrition literacy scores in the cognitive domain were negatively associated to irregular breakfast intakes compared to everyday eating breakfast (1–2 times a week, OR = 0.32, CI = 0.17–0.60), irregular lunch intakes compared to everyday eating lunch (never/1–2 times a week, OR = 0.40, CI = 0.17–0.93; 3–6 times a week, OR = 0.45, CI = 0.25–0.80) and irregular dinner intakes compared to everyday eating dinner (never/1–2 times a week, OR = 0.32, CI = 0.17–0.68). High food and nutrition literacy scores in the cognitive domain were attributed to never eating sausage/hamburger (OR = 2.20, CI = 1.01–4.83) and eating salty snacks 3–4 times a week (OR = 2.58, CI = 1.09–6.13). The FNLIT scores in the skill domain were negatively associated to irregular breakfast intakes compared to everyday eating breakfast (3-6 times a week, OR = 0.33, CI = 0.13–0.78). Food and nutrition literacy scores in the skill domain were positively associated to never eating sweet snacks (OR = 4.19,
CI = 1.39–12.62).

The current manuscript highlights the necessity of continuous improvements in health education curriculum of schools in Iran, particularly highlighting the importance of greater attention needs to practical and skill-based lessons rather than theoretical lessens. Further studies with long-term follow-up plans are needed to understand associations between food and nutrition literacy and eating behaviors more comprehensively.