Crafting and applying a tool to assess food literacy: Findings from a pilot study

Background: Food literacy could be depicted as the set of functional, interactive and critical skills which are required to navigate the food system. Scholars have widely investigated the conceptual attributes of food literacy, arguing that it consists of the ability to: 1) plan and manage food, 2) select and chooce food, and 3) prepare and consume food. However, to the authors’ knowledge, still little is known about the assessment of food literacy. Recent developments suggest that inadequate food literacy could be depicted as a silent epidemic, which affects a large part of the world population. From this point of view, there is a strong need for reliable measures aimed at assessing food literacy. Scope and approach: Drawing on the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU), this study suggests a self-reporting assessment tool aimed at measuring individual food literacy. A concept-validation approach was used to design the survey. It was tested on a convenience sample of 158 Italian citizens. A correlation analysis allowed to shed light on the main correlates of food literacy. Findings and conclusions: A large part of the sample revealed problematic food literacy. Indeed, most of respondents were found to live with inadequate ability to plan, manage, select and consume food. People living with primary education and those belonging to the lower social classes of the population were more likely to show limited food literacy. Problematic food literacy was also found to be related with poor health status and overweigh

Corrigendum to “Crafting and applying a tool to assess food literacy: Findings from a pilot study” [Trends in Food Science & Technology 67 (2017) 173–182](S0924224416304447)(10.1016/j.tifs.2017.07.002)

The authors regret their omission of their abstract and highlights in their article online and in print. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Abstract Background: Food literacy could be depicted as the set of functional, interactive and critical skills which are required to navigate the food system properly. Scholars have widely investigated the conceptual attributes of food literacy, arguing that it consists of the ability to plan and manage food, select and choice food, and prepare and consume food. However, to the authors' knowledge, still little is known on the assessment of food literacy skills. Recent developments suggest that inadequate food literacy could be depicted as a silent epidemic, affecting a large part of the world population. From this point of view, there is a desperate need for reliable measurement tools aimed at assessing food literacy skills. Scope and approach: Drawing on the European Health Literacy Survey, this review suggests a self-reporting assessment tool aimed at measuring individual food literacy skills. A concept-validation approach was used to design the survey. It was tested on a convenience sample of 158 Italian citizens. A correlation analysis allowed to shed light on the correlates of food literacy skills. Findings and conclusions: A large part of the sample revealed problematic food literacy skills. In particular, most of respondents were found to live with inadequate ability to plan, manage, select and consume food. People living with primary education and those belonging to the lower social classes of the population were more likely to show limited food literacy. Problematic food literacy was also found to be related with poor health status and overweight. Highlights • Food literacy concerns the ability to obtain and use food-related information.• Limited food literacy negatively affects healthy food behaviors.• Limited food literacy could be considered a silent epidemic.• Education and social status are significant correlates of limited food literacy.• Limited food literacy is associated with poor health status and overweight

Expert opinion of nephrologists about the effectiveness of low-protein diet in different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD)

No clinical trials have specifically explored the benefits of low-protein diet in patients with different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) 3B. In the absence of RCTs, expert opinion may be a valid surrogate to estimate treatment effectiveness. A questionnaire-based survey of a large sample of nephrologists from Southern Italy was conducted to explore benefits of low-protein diet (LPD) in delaying dialysis entry in different CKD stages. For the case vignettes describing eight different patient profiles with various CKD stages, nephrologists reported expected benefits as time delay of dialysis entry. Information was collected through questionnaires filled by 88 nephrologists from different Southern Italian hospitals. On average, nephrologists estimated the highest delay in starting dialysis due to LPD in stages 3B (15 months) and 3A (14 months), and the lowest for 5 stage (3 months). According to opinion of a large sample of Southern Italian nephrologists, low-protein diet may be more efficacious if started in CKD stage 3B than 4 and 5

Expert opinion of nephrologists about the effectiveness of low-protein diet in different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD)

No clinical trials have specifically explored the benefits of low-protein diet in patients with different stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) 3B. In the absence of RCTs, expert opinion may be a valid surrogate to estimate treatment effectiveness. A questionnaire-based survey of a large sample of nephrologists from Southern Italy was conducted to explore benefits of low-protein diet (LPD) in delaying dialysis entry in different CKD stages. For the case vignettes describing eight different patient profiles with various CKD stages, nephrologists reported expected benefits as time delay of dialysis entry. Information was collected through questionnaires filled by 88 nephrologists from different Southern Italian hospitals. On average, nephrologists estimated the highest delay in starting dialysis due to LPD in stages 3B (15 months) and 3A (14 months), and the lowest for 5 stage (3 months). According to opinion of a large sample of Southern Italian nephrologists, low-protein diet may be more efficacious if started in CKD stage 3B than 4 and 5

N-3 fatty acids in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors

BACKGROUND: Trials have shown a beneficial effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with a previous myocardial infarction or heart failure. We evaluated the potential benefit of such therapy in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors or atherosclerotic vascular disease who had not had a myocardial infarction. METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, we enrolled a cohort of patients who were followed by a network of 860 general practitioners in Italy. Eligible patients were men and women with multiple cardiovascular risk factors or atherosclerotic vascular disease but not myocardial infarction. Patients were randomly assigned to n-3 fatty acids (1 g daily) or placebo (olive oil). The initially specified primary end point was the cumulative rate of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke. At 1 year, after the event rate was found to be lower than anticipated, the primary end point was revised as time to death from cardiovascular causes or admission to the hospital for cardiovascular causes. RESULTS: Of the 12,513 patients enrolled, 6244 were randomly assigned to n-3 fatty acids and 6269 to placebo. With a median of 5 years of follow-up, the primary end point occurred in 1478 of 12,505 patients included in the analysis (11.8%), of whom 733 of 6239 (11.7%) had received n-3 fatty acids and 745 of 6266 (11.9%) had received placebo (adjusted hazard ratio with n-3 fatty acids, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.08; P=0.58). The same null results were observed for all the secondary end points. CONCLUSIONS: In a large general-practice cohort of patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors, daily treatment with n-3 fatty acids did not reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Copyright © 2013 Massachusetts Medical Society