Background: Food literacy (FL) is important as the ability to consider the unique aspects of food in our lives, society, and environment. The main objectives of this study were as follows: (1) to revisit the definition of FL, considering the cultural, relational, and ecological aspects that were often neglected in previous research, and (2) to develop a measurement tool for adults. Methods: Expert workshops, the Delphi survey, the test–retest survey, and one-on-one interviews were conducted. The content validity ratio was calculated from the Delphi survey. The correlation coefficient of each item was measured twice, and the Cronbach’s alpha was calculated. Results: This study proposed a new definition of FL, including future-oriented values, and suggested three main domains with 33 items: (1) 14 questions in nutrition and safety FL (Cronbach’s α = 0.877, average correlation coefficient = 0.70), (2) 8 questions in cultural and relational FL (Cronbach’s α = 0.705, average correlation coefficient = 0.71), and (3) 11 questions in socio-ecological FL (Cronbach’s α = 0.737, average correlation coefficient = 0.61). Conclusions: This newly developed questionnaire should be tested in different populations; however, this questionnaire can be a basis for measuring and improving FL for healthy, joyful, and sustainable diets for adults.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the entire world population in many ways. This study aimed to analyze the patterns of changes in eating, food purchasing and preparation, physical activity, and subjective health after COVID-19 outbreak by various sociodemographic factors and to understand the factors associated with changes in subjective health. SUBJECTS/METHODS A cross-sectional survey using a representative sample from Seoul was used for the analysis. The data collection was conducted from September to October 2020. A total of 3,833 citizens aged more than 18 years old participated in the Seoul Food Survey. Descriptive statistics and generalized ordinal logistic regression models were used to understand the changes in health behaviors, health indicators, and subjective general health by various socioeconomic status. RESULTS It was shown that the changes in household income, food expenditure, food consumption and physical activities differed significantly by age, education, occupation, income, weight, and food security status. Low-income and food-insecure households were affected more severely by the pandemic. Older age, household food insecurity, income reduction, increased home cooking and frequency of having instant foods, decreased physical activity and weight gain were significant factors explaining worse perceived health during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that focusing on older populations and low-income families with food insecurity should be prioritized during infectious disease outbreaks. In addition, the role of physical activities and instant food consumption in explaining perceived health should be investigated further in this prolonged battle with the pandemic situation.
Objectives The purpose of this research is to analyze the environmental factors affecting obesity in the elderly in rural South Korea. Methods A survey and Geographical Information System(GIS) data analysis were conducted on 300 elderly people aged 65 and over living in four rural Counties in two Provinces. Formative research was conducted to develop the survey questionnaire. The perception of food environment was measured with five questions, mainly on availability, affordability, and accessibility. The perception of walking environment was measured with eleven questions on esthetics, safety, traffic and community. Social cohesion and the sense of community were asked for measuring social environment. T-test, chi-squared test and stepwise backward regression modeling were performed using Stata/SE 17.0 version. Results We found that the participants from Gangwon-do had higher obesity prevalence than the ones from Jeollanam-do. There was no significant difference in the physical environment between the two Provinces using GIS data analysis; however, there were differences in the perception of the physical environment and the social environment. It was confirmed that the perceptions of the physical environment and social environment were more positive among participants from Jeollanam-do, where obesity prevalence was lower. In stratified stepwise regression models, better perception of food environment was associated with lower BMI in both Provinces. Conclusions In this study, various obesity-related environmental factors were explored in rural South Korea. The differences in obesity prevalence in four rural Counties may be explained by different perception on food, walking, and social environments, despite of the similar background factors, such as age distribution, sex ratio, educational level, and financial environment. These findings confirmed that even areas with similar physical settings have different environmental characteristics, which should be considered in developing effective obesity prevention programs. Future research should focus on the development of environmental evaluation tools and the effective measures to enhance the perception of social environment in rural South Korea. Funding Sources Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea NRF of Korea (No. 2021R1A6A1A03044501, No. 2021R1I1A306024811).
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