article · Frontiers in Nutrition
A cross-sectional investigation across ten Arab nations evaluated nutrition literacy among 5,401 adolescent-parent pairs using standardised measurement questionnaires. The assessment showed that 28 percent of adolescents possessed poor nutrition literacy, whilst 60 percent of parents were classified as food illiterate. The highest proportions of nutritionally less literate teenagers were recorded in Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Multiple demographic and social factors predicted adolescent literacy, including age, gender, educational level, employment, and the formal inclusion of nutrition instruction within school curricula. Furthermore, family characteristics such as parental health status, weight status, parental food literacy, and the number of children in the household were significant determinants. Teenagers enrolled in higher education and those with food-literate parents were the most likely to demonstrate adequate nutrition literacy, highlighting notable targets for health intervention.
Inadequate dietary knowledge during adolescence increases the long-term vulnerability to malnutrition and diet-related illness. By demonstrating that parental food illiteracy and the absence of school-based nutrition teaching directly associate with lower adolescent literacy, these findings give public health organisations and education authorities clear evidence to design combined family and curriculum interventions across the Arab region.
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Background Food 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. Methods This 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. Results More 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). Conclusion Nutrition literacy inadequacy among Arab adolescents is a prioritized challenge to be tackled.
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DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498
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