Relationship between nutritional literacy and quality of life in Turkish adults: a cross-sectional survey

Background and Objective: Nutrition literacy is a modifiable lifestyle risk factor, and addressing literacy-related barriers may help improve health outcomes, including quality of life. This cross-sectional and descriptive study examines the relationship between Turkish adults nutrition literacy and quality of life. Materials and Methods: We conducted online surveys with volunteers aged ۱۸-۶۵ with a minimum primary school education who provided consent. We used the evaluation Instrument of Nutrition Literacy (EINLA) scale to evaluate the nutritional literacy level of the participants and the ۳۶-item short-form health survey questionnaire (SF-۳۶) to evaluate the quality of life. SPSS v۲۵.۰ (IBM Corp., NY, USA) was used for the statistical analysis of the data.Results: Participants (n=۱۳۷۹) had a mean age of ۳۳.۸۹ (sd:۱۳.۱۱) years; ۱۰۰۱ (۷۳%) were female, ۷۷۶ (۵۵%)were single, ۸۲۲ (۵۹.۶%) were college graduates, ۳۶۶ (۲۶.۵%)were overweight, ۱۶۴ (۱۱.۹%) obese, and ۱۷۷(۱۲.۸%)lived alone. There was a statistically significant correlation between the total nutrition literacy scores of the participants and their general health (r=۰.۲۲۰), physical function (r=۰.۳۵۱), physical role difficulty (r=۰.۰۸۸), function (r=۰.۲۵۳), pain (r=۰.۱۵۴) and mental health (r=۰.۲۱۳) (p<۰.۰۰۱). Except for the emotional role difficulty (p=۰.۱۲۸) and vitality (p=۰.۱۹۱) sub-dimensions of SF-۳۶, there was a statistically significant correlation between the nutrition literacy level of the participants and their quality-of-life p<۰.۰۵ and p<۰.۰۰۱. Conclusions: Based on these results, as participants' nutritional literacy level increases, their quality of life improves. Therefore, this study confirms that improving nutrition literacy may positively affect the quality of life. Further research, however, needs to be undertaken to substantiate this conclusion with heterogeneous samples.

Keywords:

Nutrition literacy , Quality of life , Survey Questionnaire , Health Literacy , nutrition education