Nutrition Literacy

Nutrition literacy refers to set of abilities needed to understand the importance of good nutrition in the health. The purpose of nutrition literacy is to understand food so the people can improve their ability to make informed decisions concerning which foods and what quantities are required to maintain health. Nutrition literacy is accordingly based on being informed on several issues, that include food and health, food interactions, food and disease, understanding fast foods, understanding food supplements and eating disorders awareness.

The basic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening must necessarily include information-processing on nutrition literacy, because nutrition information is now widely and increasingly distributed on the Internet. The social and technological developments of the past decades have also  influenced significantly in the variety of food available and our understanding of how food provides nutrients to the body.

There are many most useful nutrition literacy resources. They are include nutrition fact labels, nutrition handouts, nutrition classes and lectures, patient handouts, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), Food Guide Pyramid, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Family Nutrition Programs (FNP).

To distribute nutrition information as printed matter or on their websites and  to organize conferences and lectures, there are several organizations and agencies. Some of them are listed below:

1.  United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) distributes a wealth of food and human nutrition information since 1971.

2.  American Dietetic Association has goal of linking nutrition and health.

3.  United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting public health by regulating the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, the nation’s food supply, cosmetics and products that emit radiation.

4.  American Diabetes Association distributes nutritional information related to diabetes and health.

There are presently two major issues affecting nutrition literacy. The most serious is illiteracy, followed by the difficult readability of some nutrition information. Nutrition literacy is important for parents so that they may first of all understand how food helps maintain health and prevent disease. It is also important so that they can teach their kids how to use nutritional information to develop good eating habits.