Relationship between nutrition literacy and eating behaviours among Malaysian adults

Siow, Yen Yen (2022) Relationship between nutrition literacy and eating behaviours among Malaysian adults. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

The shifting of food trends has become the major reason for increasing numbers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Malaysia. Therefore, a healthy diet plays a key role in maintaining health. Adequate nutrition literacy is important to improve eating habits by having the knowledge and skills in choosing healthy food. This study aimed to determine the nutrition literacy and eating behaviours status of Malaysian adults and the relationship between nutrition literacy and eating behaviours. In this cross-sectional study, 153 Malaysian adults above 18 years old were recruited using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using a self-reported online questionnaire. There were 83 males and 70 females included in this study. The mean score of nutrition literacy among respondents was 17.66 ± 6.35 (out of 32), and the mean score for eating behaviour was 26.88 ± 9.91 (out of 52), which indicates a poor level based on Bloom’s cut-off point. More than half of the respondents (65%) were having poor nutrition literacy. Significant differences were found in nutrition literacy for various demographic variables of gender, age, race, marital status, and employment status (p < 0.05). The prevalence of poor eating behaviour was 74.5%. Marital status has a significant difference in all sub-categories of eating behaviour (p < 0.05), where married individuals had better eating behaviour than non-married. Results of the Pearson correlation showed that nutrition literacy was positive correlate with all the four sub-categories of eating behaviours. There is a high prevalence of poor nutrition literacy and poor eating behaviour. Since eating behaviour is associated with nutrition literacy, healthcare professionals can provide nutrition education or workshop focusing on the understanding of nutrition literacy to improve healthy eating in society.

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