Hoteit Maha, Mansour Rania, Mohsen Hala, Bookari Khlood, Hammouh Fadwa, Allehdan Sabika, AlKazemi Dalal, Al Sabbah Haleama, Benkirane Hasnae, Kamel Iman, Qasrawi Radwan, Tayyem Reema
Food Science Unit, National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), Beirut, Lebanon.
PHENOL Research Group (Public Health Nutrition Program Lebanon), Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Front Nutr. 2023 May 2;10:1151498. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1151498. eCollection 2023.
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.
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.
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, = 0.001, OR = 1.8, CI = 1.6-2.1, < 0.001, respectively).
Nutrition literacy inadequacy among Arab adolescents is a prioritized challenge to be tackled.
食品素养正在引起全球关注，并在阿拉伯国家逐渐受到重视。加强阿拉伯青少年的食品和营养素养是重要且有前景的赋能工具，可保护他们免受营养不良之害。本研究旨在评估10个阿拉伯国家青少年及其父母的食品素养下青少年的营养素养状况。
这项横断面研究于2022年4月29日至6月6日在10个阿拉伯国家开展，涉及5401对青少年-父母二元组（青少年：平均年龄±标准差：15.9±3.0，女性：46.8%；父母：平均年龄±标准差：45.0±9.1，母亲：67.8%）的便利样本。使用青少年营养素养量表（ANLS）和简短食品素养问卷（SFLQ）来实现研究目标。
超过四分之一（28%）的青少年营养素养较差，其父母中有60%食品知识匮乏。青少年营养“素养较低”比例最高的三个国家是卡塔尔（44%）、黎巴嫩（37.4%）和沙特阿拉伯（34.9%）。青少年的年龄、性别、教育水平、主要照料者、就业状况以及学校课程中是否包含营养教育可预测阿拉伯青少年的营养素养水平。此外，父母的体重状况、健康状况、父母的食品素养水平以及每户子女数量也是重要的决定因素。在大学就读且父母具备足够食品素养的青少年具备营养素养的几率最高（OR = 4.5，CI = 1.8 - 11.5，P = 0.001；OR = 1.8，CI = 1.6 - 2.1，P < 0.001）。
阿拉伯青少年营养素养不足是一个需要优先解决的挑战。
