Promotion of food literacy in older adults in the community
- 02.05.2023
- English Articles
- Carola Pentner
- Felix Zastrow
- Holger Hassel
Peer reviewed / Manuscript (original) received: 11 October 2021 / Revision accepted: 09 March 2022
Participatory intervention development within the “Gusto” project
Introduction
The average age of the German population has risen significantly in recent years. This is accompanied by an increase in life expectancy [1]. Healthy aging seems to be supported by a pronounced food literacy (FL). FL is considered to be a central area of health literacy (HL) (see [2]). The term FL encompasses the ability to manage everyday eating and nutrition in a self-determined, responsible and enjoyable manner [3]. In this context, two components of nutritional knowledge are differentiated: The factual, i.e. theory-based nutritional knowledge (e.g. knowledge about the ingredients of foods) seems to play a lesser role for healthy nutrition behavior than practical nutrition knowledge (the ability for concrete implementation in everyday life) [4].
According to the model of Vidgen and Gallegos [5], FL addresses the following four basic components:
- planning and management
- selection,
- preparation and
- eating with pleasure.
In addition to HL, which is limited in 65% of the elderly in Germany [6], FL is also limited in this group of individuals: 42.5% of a total of 402 respondents in the 60–69 age group had only inadequate or problematic FL [7]. ...
Abstract
Food literacy (FL) as part of the concept of health literacy (HL) is limited in older people. The project "Gusto" aimed to promote the health literacy and in particular the food literacy in people aged 65 and older through a participatory intervention. This article presents the development of a group program with groups of seniors working independently. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted on the nutritional situation of older people. The results were compared with a competence scheme for FL and the concept of the "self-perceived food literacy scale". This led to topics for focus group discussions, which were worked on with participants. The answers were summarized and systematically organized. They are content-related and methodological building blocks for intervention development. With the help of a participatory approach, the needs and interests of the target group can be identified and taken into account for the intervention.
Keywords: food literacy, health literacy, participatory intervention development, older adults, nutrition education
