Examining the Food and Nutrition Literacy Levels of Middle School-Aged Children

Çiğdem Müge Haylı; Mehmet Zeki Avcı; Seockhoon Chung; Dilek Demir Kösem

doi:10.18621/eurj.1818264

Examining the Food and Nutrition Literacy Levels of Middle School-Aged Children

Abstract

Objectives: This cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the food and nutrition literacy levels of middle school children.

Methods: Data required for the study were collected online between January 22, 2025, and April 20, 2025. The study group consisted of middle school-aged children. Data were collected using an online survey method using the Socio-Demographic Data Collection Form and the Food and Nutrition Literacy Scale for Children (FNLSC) from 374 middle school-aged children who volunteered for parental consent and were selected using a non-probability sampling method. The statistical analysis of the data obtained in the study was carried out using SPSS 27.0 data analysis software, which employed the following methods: T-test, Oneway Anova, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

Results: Of the middle school students participating in the study, 60.2% (n=225) were males and 39.8% (n=149) were female students, with a higher proportion of male students participating. The reliability coefficient of the food and nutrition literacy scale for children was found to be 0.55, while the harmful consumption subscale was 0.45, the packaging reading subscale was 0.50, the beneficial consumption subscale was 0.45, and the interaction subscale was 0.50. In examining food and nutrition literacy levels, significant differences were found within the subscale based on age, gender, grade, family, and nutritional status, but these differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05).

Conclusions: In the study examining the food and nutrition literacy levels of middle school children, no differences were found based on some variables. It is recommended that research be conducted to examine children's food and nutrition literacy levels by considering different factors.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

The study was approved by the Cyprus Science University Ethics Committee (Decision no: 2025/01.002, Date: 21.01.2025). All procedures performed during data collection, review of patient records, and study implementation complied with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments. To avoid any ethical violations within the scope of the research, a consent form was obtained from the middle school children and an informed consent form was obtained from their parents.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Infant and Child Health , Paediatrics (Other) , Public Health (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Çiğdem Müge Haylı ^*
0000-0001-7630-9619
Türkiye

Mehmet Zeki Avcı
0000-0001-6614-9447
Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti

Seockhoon Chung
0000-0002-9798-3642
South Korea

Dilek Demir Kösem
0000-0001-9914-8299
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

January 31, 2026

Publication Date

January 31, 2026

Submission Date

November 6, 2025

Acceptance Date

January 28, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 1970 Number: Advanced Online Publication

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18621/eurj.1818264

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA33RU49ZY

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

AMA

1.Haylı ÇM, Avcı MZ, Chung S, Demir Kösem D. Examining the Food and Nutrition Literacy Levels of Middle School-Aged Children. Eur Res J. 2026;(Advanced Online Publication):1-10. doi:10.18621/eurj.1818264