Effect of a Short Nutritional Training Program on Nutrition Literacy and Food Habits in Adolescents

Objective: Balanced nutrition is of special importance in adolescence however, eating behaviors may be negatively influenced during this stage due to several factors. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of a nutrition training program on nutrition literacy level and food habits of a group of adolescents. Methods: Adolescent Nutritional Literacy Scale (ANLS) and Adolescent Food Habits Checklist (AFHC) was used to determine the nutrition literacy level and food habits of 200 highschool students in Istanbul between September 2018 and April 2019. Effect of a face to face training, for 8 hrs over 4 weeks on nutrition related topics, were investigated on nutrition literacy level and food habits of the students. Results: Mean age of the students was 15 +/- 0,66 years and 57% comprised of females. ANLS and AFHC scores in general, were higher in females, however the difference was statistically significant (p <0,05) only in pre-test scores. The average adolescent nutrition literacy (ANLS) score in males were 3,31 out of 5,0 and remained unchanged after training. In females however, it significantly decreased from 3,56 to 3,44 (p <0,05). Out of 19, AFHC scores decreased significantly from 9,80 to 8,94 in males and 10,03 to 9,34 in females (p <0,05) following training. Conclusion: A short nutritional training was not sufficiently effective in reflecting the positive change in nutrition literacy level and food habits among adolescents. Possible reasons should be investigated in depth and more comprehensive and longer training should be provided to increase nutritional awareness.