Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data
Health literacy plays an important role in promoting healthier behaviors. However, less is known about its impact on dietary habits, such as fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. This study examines the mediating role of health literacy in the relationship between FV intake and demographic and socioecono...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| author | Andrej Kirbiš Stefani Branilović Maruša Lubej |
| author_facet | Andrej Kirbiš Stefani Branilović Maruša Lubej |
| author_sort | Andrej Kirbiš |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Health literacy plays an important role in promoting healthier behaviors. However, less is known about its impact on dietary habits, such as fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. This study examines the mediating role of health literacy in the relationship between FV intake and demographic and socioeconomic factors among Slovenian adults. We used Slovenian national data from the 19-country Health Literacy Survey 2019–2021 (HLS19) (<i>n</i> = 3360). Results indicate that health literacy plays a complex role in mediating the relationship between demographic and socioeconomic factors and FV intake. Women and financially stable individuals have higher levels of health literacy, which positively predicts higher FV intake. While older individuals demonstrated greater FV intake, they reported lower health literacy, suggesting other mechanisms may drive their dietary behavior. Additionally, while higher education was associated with improved health literacy, its direct relationship with FV intake was negative, though health literacy partially mitigated this effect. These results underscore the importance of health literacy as a mediating factor in improving dietary behaviors and highlight the need for targeted interventions and policies to enhance nutritional education, particularly for marginalized groups. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff2bc6c63ad24779b79c098f3b2b3af1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff2bc6c63ad24779b79c098f3b2b3af12025-08-20T02:48:06ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-01-0114337810.3390/foods14030378Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey DataAndrej Kirbiš0Stefani Branilović1Maruša Lubej2Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaHealth literacy plays an important role in promoting healthier behaviors. However, less is known about its impact on dietary habits, such as fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. This study examines the mediating role of health literacy in the relationship between FV intake and demographic and socioeconomic factors among Slovenian adults. We used Slovenian national data from the 19-country Health Literacy Survey 2019–2021 (HLS19) (<i>n</i> = 3360). Results indicate that health literacy plays a complex role in mediating the relationship between demographic and socioeconomic factors and FV intake. Women and financially stable individuals have higher levels of health literacy, which positively predicts higher FV intake. While older individuals demonstrated greater FV intake, they reported lower health literacy, suggesting other mechanisms may drive their dietary behavior. Additionally, while higher education was associated with improved health literacy, its direct relationship with FV intake was negative, though health literacy partially mitigated this effect. These results underscore the importance of health literacy as a mediating factor in improving dietary behaviors and highlight the need for targeted interventions and policies to enhance nutritional education, particularly for marginalized groups.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/3/378health literacyfruit and vegetable intakemediation analysesdemographic and socioeconomic inequalities |
| spellingShingle | Andrej Kirbiš Stefani Branilović Maruša Lubej Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data Foods health literacy fruit and vegetable intake mediation analyses demographic and socioeconomic inequalities |
| title | Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data |
| title_full | Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data |
| title_fullStr | Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data |
| title_short | Does Health Literacy Mediate Sociodemographic and Economic Inequalities in Fruit and Vegetable Intake? An Analysis of Slovenian National HLS19 Survey Data |
| title_sort | does health literacy mediate sociodemographic and economic inequalities in fruit and vegetable intake an analysis of slovenian national hls19 survey data |
| topic | health literacy fruit and vegetable intake mediation analyses demographic and socioeconomic inequalities |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/3/378 |
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