Development and validation of food and nutrition literacy survey

BACKGROUND: Food and nutrition literacy (FNL) are of growing interest in the field of public health and health promotion. Several tools have been developed to measure the FNL in different populations. However, there is no such tool applicable across different countries and populations due to cultural or geographical specifics. Therefore, we aimed to develop and validate a general FNL assessment tool, which will be used to measure FNL in the adult population and will be applicable across different countries and cultures - The Food and Nutrition Literacy Survey (FANSy). METHODS: The Research Team took inspiration from the conceptual model presented in the European Health Literacy Survey created by the World Health Organization and from the Food Literacy Wheel. The process involved the identification of domains, item development, and consultation with an expert panel. This panel provided feedback on 52 questions and on the survey as a whole. Following the review from the panel, we validated the survey, and then through piloting and statistical analysis we identified the questions best representing the domains. RESULTS: We applied 4 main domains of FNL - cooking skills, preserve and analyze, choice and acquisition, search and plan. We created and validated a self-reported scale (FANSy) as a novel and universal FNL assessment tool. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a general tool that will allow researchers and stakeholders to collect data on FNL and compare them between different countries. We anticipate the data gathered from FANSy will identify opportunities for improving nutrition education with an overall goal of improving the health of the population. KEY MESSAGES: • FANSy is a general tool for assessing food and nutrition literacy, it is not country specific. • FANSY can be used for gathering comparable data across different populations.