Nutrition literacy levels of mothers with children aged five and below and the body mass index of their children

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the nutrition literacy levels of mothers with children aged five and below and the body mass index of their children (BMI). This descriptive study was carried out in a city located in eastern Turkey between June and August 2021. The sample was composed of 235 women who were calculated using the sampling method with an unknown target population, and participants were included in the sample using the convenience sampling method. Data collection tools were the Socio-demographic Form and Evaluation Instrument of Nutrition Literacy in Adults. Data were analyzed in SPSS, using descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov Smirnov test, Mann Whitney U-test, and Kruskal Wallis test. While 92 percent of participating mothers had a sufficient level of nutrition literacy, 46 percent of children had normal BMI. The Evaluation Instrument of Nutrition Literacy on Adults mean score was higher in those who had a high socio-economic level, had a disease that required regular medicine use, reported having sufficient knowledge about nutrition, and accept health workers as a reliable source of information (p < .05). This study found that nutrition literacy was affected by variables such as socio-economic level, knowledge about nutrition, and the sources of information chosen. In addition, it was determined that the BMI of the children was not affected by the nutritional literacy level of their mothers.

KEYWORDS:

• Body mass index
• child
• mother
• nutrition literacy

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all participants for engaging in this study. The authors are grateful to Duygu Ispinar for proofreading the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.