Nutrition modulation can reduce multiple sclerosis (MS) related symptoms and fatigue severity. Mediterranean diet may be beneficial regarding anti-inflammatory components. However, previous studies...

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between food literacy, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MetDiet), and anthropometric measurements. Method In this study, 551 adults were evaluated. The defining features were questioned with the questionnaire form, Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ), and Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS). Neck circumference, waist circumference (WC) measurements, waist to height ratio (WHtR), waist to hip ratio (WHR), and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. The effect of the SFLQ scores on the anthropometric measurements and MEDAS scores was evaluated with linear and binary logistic regression analysis. Results The food literacy scores were low in individuals with overweight and obesity and have risk according to the waist circumference and waist to height ratio. Individuals with high adherence to the MetDiet had high food literacy. The food literacy had the most effect on waist circumference. There was a positive relationship between the food literacy and MetDiet scores when the crude and adjusted models were compared according to age, gender, education level, marital status, and BMI. According to crude and adjusted models, food literacy was effective on strict adherence to the diet (Wald=13.446), and a 1-unit increase in the food literacy increased strict adherence to MetDiet by 1.05 times (95% CI=1.03-1.09). Conclusion The results showed positive effect of food literacy on obesity-related anthropometric measurements and MetDiet.

Background: Childhood obesity and its complications are serious health problems and diet/lifestyle changes can be beneficial for the prevention of diseases. Adaptation of the Healthy Lifestyle-Diet (HLD) Index in accordance with the dietary guidelines for Turkey (TR) and determination of the relationship between metabolic syndrome risk factors in obese children were the aims of this study. Methods: This study was conducted on 164 overweight or obese children (87 male, 77 female) aged 9–13 years. For all participants, the HLD-TR Index and a 24-h dietary recall were performed and the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) was calculated. Anthropometric measurements and the body composition of the children were taken. Metabolic syndrome risk factors and insulin resistance were assessed. Results: The mean age of the male and female children was 11.2±1.49 and 11.0±1.40 years, respectively. The majority of the children were obese in both genders. There were no statistically significant differences in the HLD-TR scores between the genders. As the index scores increased, a decrease in the energy intake and an increase in the MAR were observed. Negative correlations between the index scores and body mass, waist circumference and body fat mass were observed. Furthermore, a one-unit increase in the index score decreases the insulin resistance risk by 0.91 times after adjustments for age and gender (odds ratio: 0.91 [0.85–0.97]). Conclusions: The HLD-TR Index is a valid tool that can give an idea about the quality of the diet in obese children. Furthermore, with the increase in the compliance with recommendations for diet/lifestyle changes, indicators of obesity and metabolic syndrome were decreased.

Background: Food literacy is associated with sustainable food systems and encourages individuals to adopt healthy eating habits. However, there is no validated method that can be used to measure food literacy related to sustainable food systems of Turkish adults. This research aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish adaptation of the “Food Literacy (FOODLIT) Tool” for Turkish adults. Methods: The study involved 328 people aged 19 to 58 years. The FOODLIT-Tool is a five-point Likert-type scale consisting of 24 items and five factors (“culinary competencies”, “production and quality”, “selection and planning”, “environmentally safe” and “origin”). Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was applied to assess internal consistency reliability, showing an excellent scale coefficient of 0.927. The model was evaluated with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings of the CFA suggested that the fit indices were acceptable (χ²/df = 1.257, comparative fit index: 0.991, goodness-of-fit index: 0.977, normed fit index: 0.990 and root mean error of approximation: 0.028). Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between the FOODLIT-Tool score and the “Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behaviors Scale” (SHEB) score (r = 0.518, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study shows that the Turkish version of the FOODLIT-Tool integrated with sustainable food systems is a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing the food literacy of Turkish adults.

Background: Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are industrial formulations that typically contain little or no whole foods and are often high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and sodium. Research indicates that higher intake of UPFs correlates with lower overall diet quality, which can exacerbate mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. This study aimed to assess the associations between UPF consumption with health-related quality of life, and mental distress in university students. Method: This cross-sectional study consisted of 595 students resident in Samsun/Türkiye. The data were collected face-to-face with a questionnaire. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the UPFs (% energy), health-related quality of life components and mental distress score (MDS). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to establish the optimal threshold levels regarding physical component summary (PCS12), mental component summary (MCS12) and MDS. Results: The UPF ratios were negatively related to PCS12 (β = −0.112, p = 0.005) and positively associated with MDS (β = 0.102, p = 0.002) after adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, smoking duration, number of cigarettes and chronic disease. ROC analysis showed that those with UPF consumption above 45.096% had low physical quality of life, those above 50.999% had low mental quality of life, and those above 40.250% had moderate-to-high mental distress. Conclusion: Increased consumption of UPFs is associated with a decrease in physical quality of life and an increase in mental distress. Consuming more than 40% from UPFs can lead to mental and physical problems. There is a need for strategies to decrease the intake of UPFs to enhance both physical and mental wellbeing.