Evaluation of the nutrition literacy assessment questionnaire for college students and identification of the influencing factors of their nutrition literacy

BACKGROUND: Nutrition health has become a major public health issue in both high and middle-income countries. Nutrition literacy is an important indicator to evaluate the effect of public health intervention and one of the important concepts in health promotion. Thus, this study aimed to verify the reliability and validity of a nutrition literacy assessment questionnaire (NLAQ) and investigate the associated factors of nutrition literacy among college students. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of college students from April to November 2022 in Wuhan (N = 774). We employed the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the reliability and validity. We used latent profile analysis to classify the nutrition literacy. We conducted Chi-square test and binary logistic regression to identify the influencing factors. RESULTS: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the NLAQ and its dimension was ranging from 0.837 to 0.909. The common factors were consistent with the original dimensions. All indicators met the requirements (χ(2)/df = 6.16 < 8, GFI = 0.929, NFI = 0.939, CFI = 0.948, RMSEA = 0.082 < 0.1). College students’ disciplines (χ(2) = 7.769, P = 0.021), mothers’ education level (χ(2) = 26.599, P < 0.001), and fathers’ occupation type (χ(2) = 11.218, P = 0.024) had impacts on nutrition literacy. CONCLUSION: The NLAQ has good reliability and validity, and could be used as a measurement tool to evaluate college students’ nutrition literacy. Schools and families should take targeted measures to improve the college students’ nutrition literacy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-17062-z.