Food and nutrition literacy, knowledge of potentially critical nutrients, and information sources among vegan women of reproductive age in Austria: A cross-sectional survey
Martina Gaggl, Lukas Kloboucnik, Philip Meisterl, Catharina J. Candussi, Robert Griebler, Denise Schütze, Tilman Kühn, Selma Kronsteiner-GicevicBackground
Plant-based diets have become popular worldwide especially among women and younger people. Recommendations for well-balanced vegan diets are available, but the risk of nutrient deficiencies among strict vegans is of particular concern, especially among children and pregnant or breast-feeding women.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to compare food and nutrition literacy, knowledge of selected potentially critical nutrients, and sources of nutritional information between a convenience sample of Austrian vegan women of reproductive age and a quota-based sample of non-vegan Austrian women.
Design
Cross-sectional online survey.
Methods
The survey was conducted in women aged 18 to 49 years adhering to a vegan diet and “vegans” (no consumption of foods of animal origin) recruited by convenience sampling were compared against “non-vegans” (any other diet) recruited through quota-based sampling. The survey included validated instruments for measuring nutrition and food literacy and self-developed items to assess the frequency of consumption of selected highly processed foods, knowledge of selected potentially critical nutrients, and health-promoting practices.
Results
The survey sample consisted of 463 vegan and 486 non-vegan women. Self-perceived food literacy score (4.52; 95%CI: 3.04 to 6.01; p<0.001) and the nutrition health literacy scores (2.99; 95%CI: 0.36 to 5.62; p=0.026) were, on average, higher in vegans compared to non-vegans. Vegans also reported lower frequency of consumption of the selected highly processed food categories and had higher scores for knowledge of selected potentially critical nutrients. Differences remained significant after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and in a restricted analysis on more health-promoting women, except for the nutrition health literacy score.
Conclusion
In this convenience sample of Austrian vegan women, participants had higher self-perceived food and nutrition literacy scores and greater knowledge of selected potentially critical nutrients than women in the quota-based non-vegan comparison sample. These findings should be interpreted in light of differences in recruitment strategies and potential residual confounding and potential differential reporting bias.