Evaluation of a Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy Survey to Support Improvements in Diet Quality

Background Using digital tools to support healthy food choices and access may counteract the negative effects of living in under-resourced communities on diet quality. Objective We aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy (DFNL) survey and its association with diet quality for informing future tailored interventions to improve diet quality. Methods The DFNL survey was theory-informed by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model and a multi-dimensional model for making healthy food choices online. In this cross-sectional study, 196 adults from a low-income, low food access community in Northeast Connecticut completed an online survey. Principal component analysis was used to identify a DFNL index and components for multivariable linear regression analyses with diet quality, an external variable theoretically expected to be associated with DFNL. Diet quality was assessed using the Short Healthy Eating Index (sHEI) and liking-based Diet Quality Index (DQI). Results The 10-item DFNL index was internally reliable and explained 53.8% of total variance through three interpretable components—online grocery shopping, online nutrition information, and online communication. Associations between DFNL and diet quality varied by DFNL component and diet quality measure; strongest associations were observed for online nutrition information and online grocery shopping components, particularly with adequacy scores of both diet quality measures. Conclusions These preliminary findings support the construct validity of the DFNL index. Assessing DFNL may help identify modifiable behavioral skills in community nutrition interventions that can be tailored to participants’ knowledge gaps and motivation to support diet quality in under-resourced populations. Summary The developed Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy survey showed initial evidence of construct validity. The three component DFNL structure was definable, showing significant associations with diet quality, particularly adequacy scores.