The Relationship Between Health Literacy, Cooking Skills, and Diet Quality in Turkish Pregnant Women

Nutrition during pregnancy is an important issue that should be investigated as it directly affects the health of the mother and the baby. Factors such as socioeconomic status, education, and health literacy influence nutrition. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between diet quality and health and digital healthy diet literacy, cooking and food preparation skills of pregnant women.

This study carried out 310 volunteer pregnant women in their third trimester who applied to the obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic. The data was obtained through a questionnaire applied by face-to-face interview. The survey consists of socio-demographic characteristics, health status and nutritional habits, Health Literacy Scale-Short Form (HLS-SF12) and Digital Healthy Diet Literacy (DDL) Scale, Cooking and Food Preparation Skills (CS and FS) Scale, anthropometric measurements and 24-h food consumption records. Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR) and Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) scores, which evaluate the adequacy of the diet in terms of nutrients, were calculated.

The total scores of the CS and FS scales in pregnant women differed significantly based on their education level, income level, cooking frequency, and BMI groups (p < 0.05). There was a significant association between the MAR score and the sub-dimension score of CS (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between the MAR score and the HL and DDL indices (p > 0.05).

While a relationship was identified between pregnant women's diet quality and cooking skills, no relationship was found between diet quality and health and digital healthy diet literacy. This study supports the view that pregnant women's cooking and food preparation skills may improve their diet quality.