New Research on Food Literacy

Sanjeewa (Prad) Wijayaratne, a current PhD candidate, has recently published one of his studies in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia. Prad’s thesis has focused on exploring a number of issues related to food literacy in the home environment. Food literacy has been recognised as a collection of interrelated food skills and knowledge to support healthy dietary outcomes. This paper explores how the dietary gatekeeper’s food literacy skills are used to manage dietary barriers and facilitate healthy eating in the home environment.

In-depth interviews were conducted with household dietary gatekeepers with school-age children. Participants reported the two most significant barriers to healthy eating in households were time pressure and fussy eating. Four strategies were identified that used gatekeepers’ food literacy to manage these barriers: breaking up meal tasks; customising meals for family tastes; camouflaging healthy ingredients; and facilitating food choice autonomy. These strategies incorporated interrelated food literacy skills related to the planning, preparation, selection, and eating domains.

Publication details: Wijayaratne S, Westberg K, Reid M, Worsley A. (2020) A qualitative study exploring the dietary gatekeeper's food literacy and barriers to healthy eating in the home environment. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.398