Defining and measuring food literacy in late childhood and adolescence: A scoping review.

Authors

Christine St Pierre, Rob M van Dam, Jeffrey B Bingenheimer, Jennifer M Sacheck

Published in

Public health nutrition. Pages 1-41. May 15, 2026. Epub May 15, 2026.

Abstract

Food literacy is a multidimensional concept capturing interrelated factors driving individuals' food behaviors. Conceptualization to date has focused on adults without considering developmental limitations of childhood. This scoping review clarifies conceptualization and measurement of food literacy in late childhood and adolescence.
We searched the literature in 7 electronic databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews for article screening and selection. We conducted an inductive content analysis to identify the primary dimensions and indicators of food literacy for children and adolescents and examined assessment of these dimensions in existing measurement tools.
Articles covering late childhood and adolescent populations.
Older children and adolescents (9-18 years).
The initial search in November 2023 yielded 1319 articles with 13 meeting inclusion criteria, and a search update in February 2026 yielded 4 additional recently published articles for inclusion. We identified 4 dimensions and 23 formative indicators of child and adolescent food literacy. Conceptualization and measurement of food literacy in children to date have heavily emphasized dimensions pertaining to food systems and nutrition knowledge and confidence in everyday food skills relative to valuing shared food experiences and purposeful engagement with food.
Valuing shared food experiences and purposeful engagement with food are understudied dimensions of food literacy, despite evidence that they are important determinants of food behaviors. Future research should focus on further conceptual development and validation of age-appropriate indicators for these dimensions.

PMID:
42138006
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 May 2026.

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