Abstract

Food literacy interventions are widely implemented to improve the food security and health of low-socioeconomic adults. The purpose of this study was to conduct an inquiry into the value of OzHarvest’s six-week NEST (Nutrition Education and Skills Training) program in promoting food security and food literacy, and to identify the barriers and enablers that participants experienced in sustaining food security, and in utilising their food literacy skills beyond the program. A descriptive evaluation study with pre-post surveys (n = 21) and post-program interviews (n = 17) was conducted, with a convenience sample of NEST program participants living in Sydney, Newcastle, and Melbourne, Australia. Participants demonstrated improvements in food security status (p = 0.030), cooking confidence (p = 0.001), food preparation behaviours (p = 0.006), nutrition knowledge (p = 0.033), vegetable consumption (p = 0.043), and a reduction in intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (p = 0.017), and salty snack foods (p = 0.011). The interviews revealed that participants learned to stretch their food budgets and make meaningful changes to their food utilisation (a key dimension of food security). Interviews also identified enablers (e.g., social support) and barriers (e.g., health conditions) to achieving food security. Acknowledging the need for a multi-faceted approach that also addresses upstream determinants, interventions like NEST may play a role in promoting food security and food literacy.

Highlights

  • One in five deaths are attributed to a poor diet [1], with obesity, undernutrition, and other diet-related conditions substantially contributing to poor health worldwide [2]

  • The Nutrition Education and Skills Training (NEST) program is yet to be formally evaluated, the aim of this study was to conduct a descriptive evaluation study into the value of OzHarvest’s NEST program in promoting food security and food literacy, and to identify the barriers and enablers that participants experienced in sustaining food security, and in utilising their food literacy skills beyond the NEST program

  • If there’s no ability to cook . . . it’s just going to make you feel more upset. This descriptive evaluation study investigated the NEST Program’s impact on food security and food literacy, and identified key barriers and enablers that participants experienced in sustaining food security and utilising their food literacy skills beyond the program

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Summary

Introduction

One in five deaths are attributed to a poor diet [1], with obesity, undernutrition, and other diet-related conditions substantially contributing to poor health worldwide [2]. The number of people affected by hunger and food insecurity has increased from 804 million in 2016, to approximately. Food insecurity is commonly viewed as an issue for low-income countries; it is a growing public health challenge in high-income countries [4]. While some surveys have reported that food insecurity impacts 5% of Australians [4,5], there are alternative studies that estimate that up to 18% of Australian adults and 22% of Australian children experience this social and health problem [6]. Food insecurity is defined as the ‘limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or [the] limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable food in socially acceptable ways’ [7]. The four dimensions that contribute to food security are (1) the physical availability of food;

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