P14 Increasing Critical Nutrition Literacy Through a College-Level, Introductory Nutrition Course

Abstract

Background Nutrition literacy, derived from health literacy, is the ability to understand basic nutrition information needed to make appropriate nutrition decisions. Critical nutrition literacy (CNL), analogous to critical health literacy, indicates the highest level, defined as the ability to critically analyze and apply nutrition information, using more advanced critical appraisal skills. However, previous research on CNL has solely been cross-sectional. Objective To determine if a college-level, introductory nutrition course with a required laboratory component is associated with an increase in CNL. Study Design, Settings, Participants A non-experimental, pre-post study design of a four-credit, 13-week, academic course intervention in a sample of college students from the University of Rhode Island enrolled in Applied General Nutrition. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Students consenting to participate in research completed a demographic survey and a validated, five-item CNL Scale. CNL items were administered on a five-point anchored Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree, with five indicating high CNL. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess if students increased their CNL score after completing the course. Results Out of the 118 consenting students, 80 students had complete data for CNL and demographics, and were between the ages of 18 and 24. The average age was 18.7 ± 1.1 (SD) years old; the majority were white (82%), female (79%), freshmen (61%), lived on-campus (70%), and had a meal plan (75%). Participants significantly increased their CNL score from baseline to post intervention from 2.34 ± 0.7 (SD) to 2.63 ± 0.7 (SD) (P Conclusion Results indicated that there was a significant increase in CNL score from baseline to post intervention, although the increase was limited. Future introductory nutrition classes should highlight the ability to critically analyze nutrition information, through determining its credibility and truth, and how to use this information to improve dietary choices. Funding USDA.