Status and correlates of food and nutrition literacy among parents-adolescents’ dyads: findings from 10 Arab countries

Frontiers in Nutrition

Nutrition

Sabika Allehdan¹  Khlood Bookari²  Radwan Qasrawi³  Dalal AlKazemi⁴  Reema Tayyem⁵  Fadwa Hammouh⁶  Haleama Al Sabbah⁷  Maha Hoteit⁸  Hasnae Benkirane⁹  Iman Kamel^1,10  Hala Mohsen^1,11  Rania Mansour^1,12 

[1]Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Bahrain, Zallaq, Bahrain

[2]Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

[3]National Nutrition Committee, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[4]Department of Computer Science, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine

[5]Department of Computer Engineering, Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

[6]Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait

[7]Department of Human Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

[8]Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Madaba, Amman, Jordan

[9]Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

[10]Food Science Unit, National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), Beirut, Lebanon

[11]PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

[12]Joint Research Unit in Nutrition and Food, RDC-Nutrition AFRA/IAEA, Ibn Tofail University-CNESTEN, Kenitra, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco

[13]National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

[14]PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

[15]School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Program of Social Work, Doha, Qatar

关键词: Arab countries;    nutrition literacy;    food literacy;    adolescents;    parents;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498

 received in 2023-01-26, accepted in 2023-04-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFood literacy is capturing the attention worldwide and gaining traction in the Arab countries. Strengthening food and nutrition literacy among Arab teenagers are important promising empowering tools which can protect them from malnutrition. This study aims to assess the nutrition literacy status of adolescents with the food literacy of their parents in 10 Arab countries.MethodsThis cross-sectional study involving a convenient sample of 5,401 adolescent-parent dyads (adolescents: mean age ± SD: 15.9 ± 3.0, females: 46.8%; parents: mean age ± SD: 45.0 ± 9.1, mothers: 67.8%) was launched between 29 April and 6 June 2022 in 10 Arab nations. The Adolescent Nutrition Literacy Scale (ANLS) and the Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ) were used to meet the study aims.ResultsMore than one-quarter (28%) of adolescents had poor nutrition literacy, with 60% of their parents being food illiterate. The top three countries with nutritionally” less literate” adolescents were Qatar (44%), Lebanon (37.4%), and Saudi Arabia (34.9%). Adolescents’ age, gender, education level, primary caregivers, employment status, and the inclusion of nutrition education in the schools’ curriculum predicted the nutrition literacy levels of Arab adolescents. Besides, parental weight status, health status, parent’s food literacy level, and the number of children per household were significant determinants too. Adolescents studying at a university and having parents with adequate food literacy had the highest odds of being nutritionally literate (OR = 4.5, CI = 1.8–11.5, p = 0.001, OR = 1.8, CI = 1.6–2.1, p < 0.001, respectively).ConclusionNutrition literacy inadequacy among Arab adolescents is a prioritized challenge to be tackled.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Hoteit, Mansour, Mohsen, Bookari, Hammouh, Allehdan, AlKazemi, Al Sabbah, Benkirane, Kamel, Qasrawi, Tayyem and the regional food literacy group.