Popularizing Nutrition Education to Improve Student Nutrition Literacy

Abstract

Health is an eternal theme for mankind. The World Health Organization (1986) defines health as a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing of the individual. Nutrition is one of the major external determinants of human health. The concept of “nutrition literacy” was first raised by Tenhave et al. (1997) in their article titled “Literacy Assessment in a Cardiovascular Nutrition Education Setting.” Silk et al. (2008) defined nutrition literacy as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand nutrition information and skills needed in order to make appropriate nutrition decisions. Adequate nutrition literacy is beneficial for the individual obtaining correct dietary information, improving their dietary patterns and preventing chronic diseases.