The relationship between health literacy and eating awareness, diet quality, and anthropometric measurements
46th ESPEN Congress on Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Milan, İtalya, 7 - 10 Eylül 2024, cilt.63, ss.1271, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Cilt numarası: 63
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2024.07.921
- Basıldığı Şehir: Milan
- Basıldığı Ülke: İtalya
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1271
- İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Rationale: Health literacy has been found to be associated with behaviours such as estimating portion size, understanding food labels and being able to choose food sources, and these behaviours affect the quality of an individual's diet. Low levels of health literacy have also been associated with higher BMI and increased obesity. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between health literacy levels and eating awareness, diet quality and anthropometric measurements in university students.
Method: This cross-sectional study comprised 100 university students aged 18-25 (aged 21.4±1.7 years; 59 female, 41 male). Data on students' socio-demographic information, health literacy (The Newest Vital Sign, NVS), eating awareness (Mindful Eating Questionnaire, MEQ), diet quality (Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015) and anthropometric measurements (body weight, waist circumference, body mass index) were collected through face-to-face interviews. Nutritional status was assessed with a 24-hour dietary record.
Results: The mean total scores of the students on the NVS, MEQ, and HEI-2015 were 3.9±1.7, 97.0±13.9, and 49.1±13.1, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the health literacy level and anthropometric measurements, socio-demographic characteristics. Increasing health literacy was related to higher daily intakes of vitamin A, carotene and vitamin C (p<0.05). Health literacy was positively associated with HEI-total score (r=0.235, p=0.019), HEI-whole fruit score (r=0.228, p=0.022) and HEI-dairy score (r=0.203, p=0.043). There was also a significant positive relationship between health literacy level and the MEQ-mindfulness score (r=0.220, p=0.028). A negative correlation was found between body mass index and the MEQ-control of eating score (r=-0.239, p=0.017) and HEI-whole fruit score (r=-0.229, p=0.022).
Conclusion: Health literacy was found to have a positive effect on diet quality and only ensured mindfulness in terms of eating awareness. However, it was observed that it had no effect on anthropometric measurements.