Acceso usuarios
Turquía
Background: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic autoim-mune disorder that requires lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD). Nutrition literacy (NL), defined as the abilityto access, understand, and apply nutrition information, iscrucial for achieving adequate dietary adherence and main-taining long-term health in these patients. Objective: This study aimed to assess NL levels in adultswith CD compared to healthy controls.
Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey was conductedbetween February and June 2024. Demographic data and NLwere assessed using the Evaluation Instrument of NutritionLiteracy in Adults (EINLA). A total of 458 adults participated(228 with CD and 230 healthy controls), aged 19–64 years.Independent t-tests, chi-square tests, and regression analy-ses were applied to examine differences and predictors of NL.
Results: The mean age of the total sample was 36.7 ±12.4 years; participants with CD were slightly younger (35.9± 11.8 years) compared to controls (37.5 ± 13.0 years). Themean EINLA score of the overall sample was 23.8 ± 5.6.Healthy controls had significantly higher scores (24.9 ± 5.4)than CD patients (22.6 ± 5.7; p<0.05). Most participants inboth groups were classified as having borderline NL: 94.3%in the CD group and 87.8% in the control group. Adequate NLwas more frequent among healthy controls (12.2%) com-pared to CD patients (5.7%). Regression analysis identifiedgender and CD status as significant predictors of NL, withwomen and controls showing relatively higher literacy levels.
Conclusion: Both CD patients and healthy adults demon-strated predominantly borderline NL, with significantly lowerscores among CD patients. These findings underscore theneed for dietitian-led, targeted education programs tostrengthen nutritional knowledge, improve dietary adherenceto the GFD, and enhance long-term health outcomes.
