Examining the Association between Food Literacy and Food Insecurity

Abstract

Poor food literacy behaviours may contribute to food insecurity in developed countries. The aim of this research was to describe the apparent prevalence of food insecurity in adults at enrolment in a food literacy program and to examine the relationship between food insecurity and a range of independent variables. Individuals attending the Food Sensations® for Adults program in Western Australia from May 2016 to April 2018 completed a pre-program questionnaire (n = 1433) indicating if they had run out of money for food in the past month (food insecurity indicator), frequency of food literacy behaviours, selected dietary behaviours, and demographic characteristics. The level of food insecurity reported by participants (n = 1379) was 40.5%. Results from multiple logistic regression demonstrated that behaviours related to planning and management, shopping, preparation, and cooking were all statistically independently associated with food insecurity, in addition to soft/soda drink consumption, education, employment status, and being born in Australia. The results are salient as they indicate an association between food literacy and food insecurity. The implications are that food insecure participants may respond differently to food literacy programs. It may be necessary to screen people enrolling in programs, tailor program content, and include comprehensive measures in evaluation to determine effect on the impact of food literacy programs on different subgroups.

Relationship between household food insecurity and food and nutrition literacy among children of 9–12 years of age: a cross-sectional study in a city of Iran

“…Findings of the present study are in consistent with the earlier studies, mainly performed in the adults' population. In a study by Begley et al among a sample of Australian adults, all domains of the Australian food literacy model including planning and management, shopping, preparation, and cooking were independently associated with food insecurity [13]. Also, in another study among college students, it was found that very low food secure students had significantly lower cooking self-efficacy and food preparation scores compared with food secure students [15].…”

The Role of a Food Literacy Intervention in Promoting Food Security and Food Literacy—OzHarvest’s NEST Program

“…Food literacy interventions have been shown to provide individuals with these skills that contribute to health [10,11]. However, the role that food literacy interventions play in addressing food security remains unclear [8,11]. Poor food literacy may exacerbate food insecurity, or experiencing food insecurity may restrict an individual's ability to practice food literacy behaviours and achieve adequate diet quality [8].…”

“…However, the role that food literacy interventions play in addressing food security remains unclear [8,11]. Poor food literacy may exacerbate food insecurity, or experiencing food insecurity may restrict an individual's ability to practice food literacy behaviours and achieve adequate diet quality [8]. Hence, food literacy interventions cannot address the upstream determinants of food insecurity, such as access and affordability [8,11].…”

Relationship between Household Food Insecurity and Food and Nutrition Literacy among Children of 9-12 years of age: a cross-sectional study in a city of Iran

“…Findings of the present study are in consistent with the earlier studies, mainly performed in the adults' population. In a study by Begley et al among a sample of Australian adults, all domains of the Australian food literacy model including planning and management, shopping, preparation, and cooking were independently associated with food insecurity (13). Also, in another study among college students, it was found that very low food secure students had signi cantly lower cooking self-e cacy and food preparation scores compared with food secure students (15).…”

“…Findings from some recent studies have shown that in comparison to the food-secure households, those with food insecurity had lower FNLIT mainly characterized by unfavorable food choices and purchasing decisions as well as poor food preparation skills (13)(14)(15)(16). However, this evidence was limited to the adult population living in high-income and developed countries; thus, it is unknown whether these ndings are generalizable to the children and adolescents particularly in the low-income and developing nations.…”