About this Research Topic
Food literacy has gained traction in recent years, stemming from the broader concept of health literacy. It is "the scaffolding term that empowers individuals, households, communities or nations to protect diet quality through change and strengthen dietary resilience over time." Promoting food literacy is fundamental in encouraging children and adolescents to make healthy food choices and adopt healthy diets. Evidence shows that adequate levels of food literacy are positively associated with food selection, food preparation, eating habits, and diet quality. Food literacy-based approaches and interventions hold great promise for achieving a plethora of sustainable nutrition goals while shielding the young generation from the triple burden of malnutrition.
Middle childhood and adolescence are critical developmental stages in the life course. Inadequate nutrition during these stages can potentially slow growth and sexual maturation, as well as predict a high risk of developing diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), with long-term consequences persisting during adulthood. School food literacy education provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the formal education system to improve the food knowledge and skills of school-age children and adolescents, allowing them to reach their full development potential. Thus, it is pertinent to spur additional research on the evaluation of food literacy status, particularly in areas where malnutrition and food insecurity coexist. Furthermore, food-based literacy interventions in and out of school settings should be evaluated for efficacy and applicability across multiple demographics. Highlighting inadequate levels of food literacy among children and adolescents and its association with their health and nutrition status is one pathway to advocate for future interventions targeting these vulnerable groups of population in nutrition policies and programming.
We welcome article submissions focussed on but not limited to:
- Food literacy among children and adolescents
- Effect of food literacy on health and nutritional statuses among children and adolescents
- Mediterranean and vegetarian diets and growth in children and adolescents
- Mediterranean and vegetarian diets and nutrient deficiencies among children and adolescents
- Comparison of health and biochemical outcomes between omnivorous and vegetarian diet
Middle childhood and adolescence are critical developmental stages in the life course. Inadequate nutrition during these stages can potentially slow growth and sexual maturation, as well as predict a high risk of developing diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), with long-term consequences persisting during adulthood. School food literacy education provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the formal education system to improve the food knowledge and skills of school-age children and adolescents, allowing them to reach their full development potential. Thus, it is pertinent to spur additional research on the evaluation of food literacy status, particularly in areas where malnutrition and food insecurity coexist. Furthermore, food-based literacy interventions in and out of school settings should be evaluated for efficacy and applicability across multiple demographics. Highlighting inadequate levels of food literacy among children and adolescents and its association with their health and nutrition status is one pathway to advocate for future interventions targeting these vulnerable groups of population in nutrition policies and programming.
We welcome article submissions focussed on but not limited to:
- Food literacy among children and adolescents
- Effect of food literacy on health and nutritional statuses among children and adolescents
- Mediterranean and vegetarian diets and growth in children and adolescents
- Mediterranean and vegetarian diets and nutrient deficiencies among children and adolescents
- Comparison of health and biochemical outcomes between omnivorous and vegetarian diet
Keywords: Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Food literacy, Childhood. Nutrient, Deficiencies, growth, Adolescents, Health and Nutritional Status, Biochemical Outcomes
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
