Relationship between microbiota awareness, nutrition literacy, and health literacy among adolescents

Abstract

Background/aim: Microbiota awareness, nutritional literacy, and health literacy levels in adolescence have a significant impact on adolescents' health and well-being. This research was conducted to examine the relationship between microbiota awareness, nutrition literacy and health literacy in adolescents.Material and methods: The research was conducted in a descriptive-correlational type. The universe of the research was formed by individuals aged (10-19) living in Türkiye (n:739) between June 2022-February 2024. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0, G*Power 3.1, and R programming language 4.1.3 programs.Results: The total effect of the health literacy variable on nutritional literacy was 0.2311, and this effect value was statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (p< 0.05). In the presence of the health literacy variable, the direct effect of the nutrition literacy variable on the microbiota awareness variable is 0.2888, and this effect value is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (p< 0.05). In the presence of the nutritional literacy variable, the direct effect of the health literacy variable on the microbiota awareness variable is 0.1707, and this effect value is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (p< 0.05). Nutrition literacy has a partial mediating role in the effect of health literacy on microbiota awareness (Lower Limit Confidence Interval: 0.045; Upper Limit Confidence Interval: 0.089). The most accurate prediction of machine learning approaches to predict microbiota awareness was made with Random Forest With Shapley Additive Explanations values, it was determined that the most important variable that should be in the model to predict the microbiota awareness variable is the nutrition literacy variable.Conclusion: In our study, it was found that microbiota awareness increased as health literacy and nutrition literacy increased.In machine learning approach prediction, it was determined that the most important variables affecting microbiota awareness were health literacy and nutritional literacy. Longitudinal studies on microbiota awareness are recommended.