Abstract

TORRES, Rafael  and  REAL, Helena. NUTRITION LITERACY AND FOOD LITERACY: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF DEFINITION, DOMAINS AND MEASUREMENT TOOLS. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2021, n.24, pp.56-63.  Epub June 15, 2021. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2021.2411.

The increase in diseases related to eating habits has been associated with poor eating habits and low levels of knowledge and skills related to food. For this reason, Food Literacy and Nutritional Literacy have become increasingly important in health promotion. Nutritional Literacy focuses on the ability to understand information related to nutrients, while Food Literacy is a more holistic concept, capable of addressing all the knowledge and necessary skills for healthier food choices and behaviors. Taking into account the lack of consensus in the literature regarding these two concepts, Vidgen & Gallegos (2014) definition of Food Literacy is the most complete and inclusive to date.

Eighteen assessment tools for Nutritional Literacy and Food Literacy were analyzed, and the SPFL and IT-FLS tools were identified as the most suitable for future application in the Portuguese population. Despite this, there is still a need for further research in order to develop a sufficiently comprehensive tool to assess and compare levels of Food Literacy as a whole, and in turn work on improving the health of populations.

Keywords : Measurement tools; Nutrition literacy; Food literacy; Portuguese population.

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