Abstract

RIBEIRO, Joana  and  REAL, Helena. FOOD LITERACY: CONSTRUCTION OF A MATRIX BASED ON INFORMATION PROCESSING DOMAINS AND SKILLS. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2023, n.33, pp.22-26.  Epub Feb 15, 2024. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2023.3305.

Food literacy is the ability to obtain, process and understand relevant information about food and to use that knowledge to make decisions about food consumption in different contexts. In this way, greater food literacy competencies allow for more effective navigation in increasingly complex food systems, empowering individuals to act autonomously in decision-making and contributing to healthier food choices.

The aim of this study was to develop a theoretical matrix that combines the domains of Food Literacy and information processing skills. The development of the matrix was based on the content analysis of the most recent systematic review on definitions of Food Literacy, as well as on a paper compiling conceptual maps of Food Literacy, from which the most prevalent domains of Food Literacy were extracted. Subsequently, by analogy to a Health Literacy matrix, an adaptation to the domains of Food Literacy was carried out. In order to combine the domains of Food Literacy (Plan and Manage, Select, Prepare and Consume) with the skills related to information processing (Access, Understand, Evaluate, Apply), a theoretical matrix was developed composed of 16 dimensions of Food Literacy. This matrix may serve as a basis for the development of Food Literacy assessment tools that extensively include these concepts and for the development of community interventions and public health policies aimed at empowering decision-making and changes in individual and collective eating behaviour.

Keywords : Domains; Food literacy; Health literacy; Food literacy matrix; Information processing.

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