Association Between Food and Nutrition Literacy and Nutritional Status: A Systematic Review

Nutrition Education and Dietetics Public Health Nutrition Policy & Economics
DOI https://doi.org/10.51745/najfnr.10.22.28-39
Issue Vol. 10 No. 22 (202): July - December, 2026
Submitted 2025-12-16
Accepted 2026-07-04
Published 2026-08-14

Copyright © 2026 Dewi Kholilatur Rohmaniyah, Widya Rahmawati, Irma Sarita Rahmawati

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Background: Food and nutrition literacy constitutes an essential component of health literacy, encompassing an individual's capacity to access, interpret, evaluate, and apply information pertaining to food and nutrition. Enhanced literacy levels are hypothesized to influence dietary behaviors, and subsequently, to affect an individual's nutritional status.

Aims: This systematic review aims to examine the association between food and nutrition literacy and nutritional status across diverse populations.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed across four electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Articles eligible for inclusion were those published within the previous ten years, written in either English or Indonesian, employing quantitative research designs, and available in full text.

Results: An initial search yielded 252 articles, of which 27 met the predefined inclusion criteria following a rigorous screening process and were subsequently included in the final analysis. The reviewed studies demonstrated that food and nutrition literacy could be assessed through a variety of validated instruments and that its relationship with nutritional status was reported across different population groups, health conditions, and age categories.

Conclusions: The association between food and nutrition literacy and nutritional status appears to be modulated by several intervening variables including age, health status, and socio-cultural factors. While numerous studies have reported a positive correlation between higher literacy levels and improved nutritional outcomes, others have observed no significant association. Furthermore, literacy-based educational interventions have demonstrated efficacy in mitigating risks associated with anemia, stunting, and obesity.

Keywords

Food Literacy Nutrition Literacy Nutritional status
  • Dewi Kholilatur Rohmaniyah
    a:1:{s:5:"en_US";s:21:"Universitas Brawijaya";}
  • Widya Rahmawati
  • Irma Sarita Rahmawati
    University of Brawijaya

How to Cite

Rohmaniyah, D. K., Rahmawati, W., & Rahmawati, I. S. (2026). Association Between Food and Nutrition Literacy and Nutritional Status: A Systematic Review. The North African Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 10(22), 28-39. https://doi.org/10.51745/najfnr.10.22.28-39
More Citation Formats

Ashoori, M., Omidvar, N., Eini-Zinab, H., Shakibazadeh, E., Doustmohamadian, A., Abdar-Esfahani, B., & Mazandaranian, M. (2021). Food and nutrition literacy status and its correlates in Iranian senior high-school students. BMC Nutrition, 7(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-021-00426-2

Ayer, Ç., & Ergin, A. (2021). Status of nutritional literacy in adolescents in the semi-rural area in Turkey and related factors. Public Health Nutrition, 24(12), 3870-3878. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980021002366

Barker, T. H., Stone, J. C., Sears, K., Klugar, M., Tufanaru, C., Leonardi-Bee, J., ... & Munn, Z. (2023). The revised JBI critical appraisal tool for the assessment of risk of bias for randomized controlled trials. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 21(3), 494-506. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-22-00430

Barker, T. H., Habibi, N., Aromataris, E., Stone, J. C., Leonardi-Bee, J., Sears, K., ... & Munn, Z. (2024). The revised JBI critical appraisal tool for the assessment of risk of bias for quasi-experimental studies. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 22(3), 378-388. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-23-00268

Boariu, S. M., Scutariu, A. M., Reurean Pintilei, D., Tarcea, M., Guiné, R. P., & Ferreira, M. (2024). Food literacy assessment of a sample of Romanian higher education students. Sustainability, 16(3), 1034. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031034

Bozkurt, O., & Yildiran, H. (2024). The effect of multi-strategy nutrition education programs on hedonic hunger and nutrition status in adolescents. Children, 11(10), 1188. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11101188

Costarelli, V., Michou, M., Panagiotakos, D. B., & Lionis, C. (2022). Parental health literacy and nutrition literacy affect child feeding practices: A cross-sectional study. Nutrition and Health, 28(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060211001489

Depboylu, G. Y., Kaner, G., Süer, M., Kanyılmaz, M., & Alpan, D. (2023). Nutrition literacy status and its association with adherence to the Mediterranean diet, anthropometric parameters and lifestyle behaviours among early adolescents. Public Health Nutrition, 26(10), 2108-2117. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980023001830

Doustmohammadian, A., Omidvar, N., Keshavarz-Mohammadi, N., Eini-Zinab, H., Amini, M., Abdollahi, M., ... & Haidari, H. (2020). Low food and nutrition literacy (FNLIT): a barrier to dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy in school age children. BMC Research Notes, 13(1), 286. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-020-05123-0

Du, J., Cui, Y., Yang, L., Sun, Y., Tian, X., Hu, X., & Liu, H. (2024). Associations between nutrition literacy and possible sarcopenia among older adults in Bengbu, China. British Journal of Nutrition, 132(10), 1377-1385. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000711452400268X

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