A study from the Austrian SHIFT2HEALTH partners investigated nutrition health literacy (NHL) among 248 workers from the health and industrial sectors, including day and night shift workers.
The findings revealed that 61.3% of participants had limited nutrition health literacy. While participants scored highest in accessing and understanding nutritional information, they showed lower scores in evaluating and applying it.
Although no differences were found between day and night shift workers, higher overall NHL was associated with lower body fat percentage and body fat mass. Particularly, the ability to apply nutritional knowledge was associated with all anthropometric outcomes, including BMI. Lower NHL was also linked to poorer self-rated health.
These preliminary findings highlight that nutritional knowledge alone may not be sufficient: the ability to translate knowledge into everyday practice appears particularly relevant for health. Strengthening practical nutrition competencies could therefore be an important focus of health promotion in working populations.