Status and correlates of food and nutrition literacy among parents-adolescents' dyads: findings from 10 Arab countries

Maha Hoteit^{1

2}, Rania Mansour³, Hala Mohsen², Khlood Bookari^{4

5}, Fadwa Hammouh⁶, Sabika Allehdan⁷, Dalal AlKazemi⁸, Haleama Al Sabbah⁹, Hasnae Benkirane¹⁰, Iman Kamel¹¹, Radwan Qasrawi^{12

13}, Reema Tayyem¹⁴; regional food literacy group

Affiliations

¹ Food Science Unit, National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), Beirut, Lebanon.
² PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Program of Social Work, Doha, Qatar.
⁴ Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ National Nutrition Committee, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Madaba, Amman, Jordan.
⁷ Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Bahrain, Zallaq, Bahrain.
⁸ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
⁹ Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Joint Research Unit in Nutrition and Food, RDC-Nutrition AFRA/IAEA, Ibn Tofail University-CNESTEN, Kenitra, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco.
¹¹ National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
¹² Department of Computer Science, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine.
¹³ Department of Computer Engineering, Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁴ Department of Human Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

PMID: 37200945
PMCID: PMC10186151
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498

Status and correlates of food and nutrition literacy among parents-adolescents' dyads: findings from 10 Arab countries

Maha Hoteit et al. Front Nutr. 2023.

. 2023 May 2:10:1151498.

doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Food Science Unit, National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), Beirut, Lebanon.
² PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Program of Social Work, Doha, Qatar.
⁴ Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ National Nutrition Committee, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Madaba, Amman, Jordan.
⁷ Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Bahrain, Zallaq, Bahrain.
⁸ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
⁹ Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Joint Research Unit in Nutrition and Food, RDC-Nutrition AFRA/IAEA, Ibn Tofail University-CNESTEN, Kenitra, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco.
¹¹ National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt.
¹² Department of Computer Science, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine.
¹³ Department of Computer Engineering, Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁴ Department of Human Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

PMID: 37200945
PMCID: PMC10186151
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Arab countries; adolescents; food literacy; nutrition literacy; parents.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
**(A)** Adolescents not receiving nutrition education in schools’ curriculum, by country (n = 3,699 school attendees). **(B)** Adolescents not receiving nutrition education in schools’ curriculum, by school type (n = 3,699 school attendees).

**Figure 2**
The proportion of adolescents having poor total nutrition literacy (TNL), by country.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Status and correlates of food and nutrition literacy among parents-adolescents' dyads: findings from 10 Arab countries

Affiliations

Status and correlates of food and nutrition literacy among parents-adolescents' dyads: findings from 10 Arab countries

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous