Association Between Nutrition Literacy and Overweight/Obesity of Adolescents: A Cross–Sectional Study in Chongqing, China

Objective: The burden of overweight and obesity in adolescents is increasing rapidly. This study aimed to assess the association between nutrition literacy and overweight/obesity among adolescents in China. Methods: This cross–sectional online study involving adolescents aged 10–18 years was conducted in September 2020 in 239 schools in Chongqing China. Overweight and obese adolescents were determined based on the International Obesity Task Force's recommended age–sex specific body mass index cutoff points. Nutrition literacy was measured using the “Nutrition literacy scale for middle school students in Chongqing (CM–NLS).” The CM–NLS included three subdomains (functional nutritional literacy, interactive nutrition literacy, and critical nutrition literacy). Multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine the association. Results: A total of 18,176 adolescents (49.8% girls) were included. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 9.6% and 17.0%, respectively. Compared with those having a low nutrition literacy score (below median), those with a high score were less likely to be overweight and obese. The odds ratio (95% CI) for overweight was 0.87 (0.79–0.97) (nutrition literacy) and 0.81 (0.73–0.90) (functional nutritional literacy). The corresponding figures for obesity were 0.84 (0.77–0.91) and 0.73 (0.67–0.80), respectively. Significant interaction existed between grade and nutrition literacy. The inverse association between nutrition literacy and overweight/obesity was significant among those in senior school but not among those in junior high school. Conclusion: Nutrition literacy was inversely associated with overweight/obesity among adolescents, especially those attending senior high schools.

This study was supported by the Chinese Nutrition Society (Science Popularization and Communication Research Fund project, award Number CNS–SCP2020–34).