Evidence mapPaperPMID 32744216Full record

SynthesisPublic health nutrition2021

Association between health literacy and dietary intake of sugar, fat and salt: a systematic review.

Alessandra Buja, Giulia Grotto, Laura Montecchio, Elisa De Battisti, Milena Sperotto, Chiara Bertoncello, Silvia Cocchio, Tatjana Baldovin, Vincenzo Baldo

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Association of parental oral health literacy and child temperament with dental attendance in children with early childhood caries: a cross-sectional study.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026
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  15. Current Knowledge and Behavior towards Salt Reduction among Hong Kong Citizens: A Cross-Sectional Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
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  17. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Giulia GrottoDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-0562-2717
Laura MontecchioDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Elisa De BattistiDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Milena SperottoDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Chiara BertoncelloDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Silvia CocchioDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Tatjana BaldovinDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.
Vincenzo BaldoDepartment of Cardiological, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova35127, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo collect and summarise all current data from observational studies, generating evidence of the association between health literacy (HL) and the dietary intake of sugar, salt and fat, to analyse intervention studies on the promotion of an appropriate dietary intake of the above-mentioned nutrients and to ascertain whether HL moderates the efficacy of such intervention.

designA systematic literature search of analytical observational studies on the association between HL and dietary intake of sugar, salt and fat was performed in Medline and Scopus databases. Intervention studies on the promotion of healthy nutrition that concerned the intake of sugar, salt and fat were also assessed.

resultsOf the eight observational studies included in this review, five investigated dietary intake of sugar, one focused on salt, one assessed sugar and salt and one analysed the fat intake. The results of the five studies assessing sugar were mixed: three found an association between low levels of HL and a high sugar intake, one found this association only for boys and two found no evidence of any association. The two studies assessing salt and the one assessing fat found no evidence of any association with HL. One intervention study on the sugar intake concluded that HL was not a significant moderator of the intervention's effectiveness.

conclusionNo evidence of any association between HL and salt and fat intake emerged, while for sugar, the results are mixed. More work is needed to better understand the moderating effects of HL on the outcomes of health promotion interventions.

Indexed as

Health LiteracyEatingHealth PromotionHumansMaleSodium Chloride, DietarySugarsSodium Chloride, DietarySugarsChronic diseaseFatHealth literacyPreventionSaltSugar

Identifiers

PMID32744216
PMCPMC8145460

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.