Affiliations: [a]
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
| [b]
Department of Public and Community Health, Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
| [c]
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Peloponnese, Tripoli, Greece
| [d]
Department of Preschool Education, School of Education, University of Crete, Rethymnon, Greece
| [e]
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Physical Education, Sports and Dietetics, Trikala, Greece
| [f] Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Prof. Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens 176 71, Greece. E-mail: dbpanag@hua.gr.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Children’s dietary behaviors seem tract into adulthood and as a result preventing strategies to establish healthy behaviors from early stages of life are needed. Nutrition knowledge is essential for behavioral change. OBJECTIVE:To examine whether the status of parental health related to their children’s nutrition literacy level through their perceptions mainly of healthy eating attitudes METHODS:A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Greece among 1,728 schoolchildren aged 10–12 years old. The sample was collected in the school setting during the school years of 2014–2016. Children completed anonymously a self-administered questionnaire about their knowledge and perceptions of a healthy diet while their parents completed another suitable questionnaire about family health status. RESULTS:Paternal BMI status and hypertension were inversely associated with the level of nutrition literacy of their children by b = –0.043 (95%CI: (–0.082, –0.003; p = 0.036) and by b = –0.600 (95%CI: –1.181, –0.019; p = 0.043), respectively. Parental health status, specifically, paternal diabetes and maternal dyslipidemia were associated with children’s higher level of nutrition literacy by b = 0.729 (95%CI: 0.002, 1.456; p = 0.049) and by b = 0.730 (95%CI: 0.086, 1.374; p = 0.026), respectively. CONCLUSIONS:Parental health status partially affects, either negatively or positively, the level of nutrition literacy of their children. This impact depends on whether parents follow nutritional recommendations to improve their health.
