L6 Nutrition Literacy Flashcards
Why do we care about food literacy?
- difficult to navigate a complex food system
- many chronic diseases related to poor food choices and lifestyle behaviors
- outside influencers on food choices like community, government and food marketers
- the obesity epidemic
- dependency on processed foods contributes to the increased lack of food skills and traditional foods which undermines the efforts to educate about food health
Why was there an increase in processed foods in the 50’s?
Post WWII homes had refrigerators and advances in food preservation for soldiers
When did UPF occur and what are they?
1980’s
industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from industrial ingredients, commonly containing little or no whole foods (e.g., cake mixes, pastries, soft drinks and ‘energy’ drinks, margarine, ‘instant’ packaged soups, poultry ‘nuggets’)
• Basic ingredients: white flour, fats, oils, sugar, salt and corn.
- energy dense and have a poor nutrient profile
What is health literacy?
The ability to access, understand, and use health information, has been identified as an international public health goal.
- People’s ‘‘knowledge, motivation and competencies to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information in order to make judgments and make decisions in everyday life concerning healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion, to maintain or improve quality of life during the life course.”
Health literacy in absolute terms?
In absolute terms, we distinguish between those who have basic skills that enable them to access, understand, and use information for health, and those who do not
Health literacy in relative terms?
The skill differences between those who are able to apply more advanced cognitive and literacy skills to perform relatively challenging tasks in understanding and applying information for health, and those who cannot.
• Functional health literacy
• Interactive health literacy
• Critical health literacy
What is functional literacy?
The basic skills (e.g., reading and numeracy) sufficient for individuals to understand basic health information and apply that knowledge to a limited range of activities..
the ability to obtain the information.
What is interactive literacy?
Communicative skills (e.g., reading & writing) are more advanced and can be used to extract health information and derive meaning from different forms of health communication, and apply this to changing circumstances; and to interact with greater confidence with health care professionals. - Assessing the information in a meaningful way.
What is critical health literacy skills?
The cognitive and social skills needed to critically assess health information in relation to life events and
personal situations
- analyzing, reasoning, evaluating, problem solving, decision making.
How do we improve interactive and critical health literacy?
- The use of interactive health education programs that aim to increase the confidence of acting on health information
- The content of health education should raise awareness personal and social determinants of health, and support a variety of actions which may lead to choices in changing and improving these health determinants
What are food skills?
Food skills vary from techniques, planning, and knowledge that allow a person to prepare a healthy meal for one’s self or family.
What are the personal dimensions of food literacy?
- Foor prep. skills, experience (ability to use recipes and follow instructions)
- Food and nutrition knowledge (interpreting food labels)
- Psycho-social factors (satisfaction, creativity, social contectedness)
- Organizational skills, experience (planning, budgeting, buying and storing food, self-efficacy)
what are the external determinants of food literacy?
- Socio-cultural environment: food experience, normalization of skills, emotional support.
- Food and facilities: food availability, meal provision, cooking facilities.
- Living conditions: income, employment, housing
- Learning environment: literacy, numeracy, experiential learning, youth engagement
Why has there been a decline in food related activities?
- The shift to “ultra-processed”, “fast”, and convenience foods require few food skills.
- Women entering the work force; women still primarily responsible for domestic duties.
- Decreased opportunities for cooking and food preparation skill development within home and school environments.
- A decline in family meals and regular meal structure along with a greater frequency of consuming food outside the home.
- Competing priorities and interests (time constraints): “Cooking is a waste of time.” “I don’t have time to shop and prepare meals.”
How is food literacy achieved in the home?
regular participation in household food related activities (e.g., cooking, meal planning, and grocery shopping); nutrition knowledge (e.g., understanding of healthy meals); ability to grow food; and positive attitudes expressed around food and eating.
