College Students’ Views on Functional, Interactive and Critical Nutrition Literacy: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This research aimed to uncover how the nutrition literacy domains (functional, interactive, critical) influence the dietary decisions of young adults in college. For this qualitative study, undergraduate college students aged 18–24 years old (n = 24) were recruited to participate in focus groups. The focus group transcripts were independently coded for primary and secondary themes using a grounded theory approach and a basic thematic analysis. Four focus groups with 5–7 participants per group were conducted. The three domains of nutrition literacy emerged in the focus groups with two themes per domain. Themes within functional nutrition literacy included ‘food enhances or inhibits good health’ and ‘components of a healthy diet’; themes within interactive nutrition literacy included ‘navigating the college food environment’ and ‘awareness of food marketing on dietary behavior’; themes within critical nutrition literacy included ‘critical appraisal of nutrition information’ and ‘awareness of societal barriers to good health’. Understanding how the different nutrition literacy domains relate to college students’ food choices can inform future researchers on how to appropriately assess nutrition literacy and design programs aimed at improving dietary behaviors of college students.

The relationship between Nutrition Literacy and Nutrition Information seeking attitudes and Healthy Eating Patterns in the Palestinian Society

“…This could be overestimated and misleading as guidelines to healthy diet have other aspects such as intake of fruits and vegetables and lower intake of soft drinks among others, which is in accordance with what was found previously (17,19). For example the score for con dence on the de nition of healthy diet was high, whereas the knowledge of WHO guidelines on healthy nutrition was low, which indicate that the participants may have overestimated their skills with regards to nutrition knowledge.…”

“…Also, participants who had higher level of FNL seemed to trust resources of nutrition information such as doctors, nurses, books and internet. Previous literature supports positive association between diet behavior and nutrition literacy (16,17). So one can conclude that improved nutrition literacy could prevent chronic diseases (18).…”

Is Alcohol Consumption Related to Lifestyle Factors in Romanian University Students?

“…We observed that in the initial academic year, the study sample showed a statistically higher alcohol consumption weekly (1-4 times/week) (27.3%) with a relatively high 5-6 times/week and everyday alcohol consumption (3.4% and 2.9%, respectively), probably due to peer influences [24]. In the following years, the frequent alcohol consumption habit (more than 1-4 times per week) decreased, probably due to high academic assignments; however, in the sixth year, the study reveals the highest daily alcohol consumption (6.5%), suggesting a possible progressively developed increased addictive behavior due to environmental factors during university years.…”

The relationship between nutrition literacy and nutrition information seeking attitudes and healthy eating patterns among a group of palestinians

“…Furthermore, participants with a higher level of FNL appeared to trust nutrition information sources such as doctors, nurses, books, and the internet. Previous research has found a link between diet behavior and nutrition literacy [ 23 , 24 ]. As a result, improved nutrition literacy may help to prevent chronic diseases [ 25 ].…”