Last updated on 7-8-2025 by Elise Grimm
Why do we study food literacy?
- Food literacy refers to the capability of individuals to make healthy food choices in different contexts and situations. It covers knowledge, skills, and evaluation of information on healthy eating and the capability to plan, select, purchase, prepare, and eat healthy foods in ways that promote health.
- Food literacy is related to better nutritional quality intake, health and well-being. Increasing food literacy could therefore be an effective way to help individuals make appropriate choices helping them maintain health and decrease the incidence of non-communicable diseases. From that perspective, assessing food literacy and its components is needed to develop appropriate measures to improve knowledge, skills and behaviours about food.
How do we do it?
- Twelve questions coming from the ‘Food Literacy Questionnaire’ developed by the University of Leuven were used to assess the food literacy of the Belgian adult population (aged 18 years and above). These questions cover five domains:
- (1) food planning: i.e. taking time to eat and identifying the situations where it is difficult to follow a healthy diet;
- (2) selecting healthy foods to eat: i.e. knowing which foods to choose to follow a healthy diet, understanding information on food packaging, and consuming wholesome and varied food products;
- (3) preparing healthy foods: i.e. capability to compose a healthy meal, to cook, and to apply principles of food hygiene;
- (4) eating healthy meals: i.e. awareness about the impact of eating habits on health, frequency of overeating, and identifying meals where it is difficult to follow a healthy diet;
- (5) finding information on healthy eating.
- For most of these questions, participants were asked to answer on a “7-point Likert scale”: ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘rather disagree’, ‘neither disagree nor agree’, ‘rather agree’, ‘agree’, ‘strongly agree’. Answers were scored so that higher scores reflect higher levels of literacy. Total scores were then computed for each domain by summing the score of the domain-specific questions. The five domain scores were finally summed to obtain the total food literacy score.
- The domain-specific and total scores were expressed in percentages (the maximum possible being 100%) and the results presented show these average percentages in the Belgian adult population (18 years and above) and in the different subgroups analysed.
Key results
Women have a higher level of food literacy than men.
The level of food literacy increases with age in adulthood.
The level of food literacy increases when the education level increases.
Adults living in Flanders have a higher level of food literacy than those living in Brussels or Wallonia.
Domain of food planning
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food planning, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The results are about the capability for food planning, i.e. the capability to take time to eat and to limit the situations where it is difficult to follow a healthy diet.
- In Belgium in 2022-2023, adults aged 18 years and above obtained an average score of 83% for the domain of food planning.
- The average score for food planning does not differ according to sex in all age groups.
- In men and women, the average score for food planning increases with age. Individuals aged 65 years and above obtain an average score higher than the two other age groups. Similarly, individuals aged 40 to 64 years old have a higher average score than the age group 18 to 39 years old.
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food planning, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The results are about the capability for food planning, i.e. the capability to take time to eat and to limit the situations where it is difficult to follow a healthy diet.
- The average score for food planning does not differ according to the education level.
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food planning, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The results are about the capability for food planning, i.e. the capability to take time to eat and to limit the situations where it is difficult to follow a healthy diet.
- The average score for food planning is higher among the adults living in Flanders (84%) than among those living in Brussels (81%) or in Wallonia (79%).
Domain of selecting foods
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of selecting foods, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The results are about the capability of selecting healthy foods, i.e. knowing which foods correspond to a healthy diet, understanding food packaging, etc.
- The average score for selecting foods was 75% in the general Belgian population aged 18 years and above in 2022-2023.
- In all age groups combined, women obtained a higher average score for selecting foods (76%) than men (74%). This difference between sexes is however only observed among young adults (74% in women and 71% in men).
- The average score for selecting foods is lower among adults aged 18 to 39 years old (73%) than among those aged 40 to 64 years old and 65 years and above (76% in both groups). This difference between age groups is more marked in men than in women.
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of selecting foods, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The results are about the capability of selecting healthy foods, i.e. knowing which foods correspond to a healthy diet, understanding food packaging, etc.
- The average score for selecting foods increases when the education level increases: from 71% among adults with a low education level, to 78% among those having a mid-education level and 80% among those having a high education level.
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of selecting foods, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The results are about the capability of selecting healthy foods, i.e. knowing which foods correspond to a healthy diet, understanding food packaging, etc.
- The average score for selecting foods is higher among the adults living in Flanders (76%) than among those living in Brussels (73%) or in Wallonia (73%).
Domain of food preparation
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food preparation, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The results are about the capability to prepare healthy foods, i.e. to compose a healthy meal, to cook and to apply the principles of food hygiene.
- The average score for food preparation was 83% in the general Belgian population aged 18 years and above in 2022-2023.
- In all age groups combined, women obtained a higher average score for food preparation (87%) than men (79%). This difference between sexes is observed in the three age groups.
- In women, the average score for food preparation is lower in the age group 18 to 39 years old (84%) than in the age groups 40 to 64 years old (87%) and 65 years and above (88%).
- By contrast, in men, the average score for food preparation is lower in the age group 65 years and above (74%) than in the age groups 18 to 39 years old (80%) and 40 to 64 years old (82%).
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food preparation, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The results are about the capability to prepare healthy foods, i.e. to compose a healthy meal, to cook and to apply the principles of food hygiene.
- The average score for food preparation is lower among adults with a low education level (82%) than among those with mid (85%) or high education levels (85%).
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of food preparation, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The results are about the capability to prepare healthy foods, i.e. to compose a healthy meal, to cook and to apply the principles of food hygiene.
- The average score for food preparation is lower among the adults living in Brussels (80%) than among those living in Flanders (84%) or Wallonia (83%).
Domain of food eating
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of eating food, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The results are about the capability of eating healthy meals, i.e. be aware of the impact of eating habits on health, limit overeating, and follow a healthy diet during the main meals.
- The average score for the domain of eating food was 51% in the general Belgian population aged 18 years and above in 2022-2023.
- In all age groups combined, women obtained a higher average score for food eating (52%) than men (49%).
- In women and men, the average score for eating food increases with age, especially in the age category of 65 years and above where the average score exceeds 60%.
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of eating food, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The results are about the capability of eating healthy meals, i.e. be aware of the impact of eating habits on health, limit overeating, and follow a healthy diet during the main meals.
- The average score for eating food is lower among adults with a mid-education level (48%), compared to the individuals with a low (51%) or a high education level (52%).
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of eating food, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The results are about the capability of eating healthy meals, i.e. be aware of the impact of eating habits on health, limit overeating, and follow a healthy diet during the main meals.
- The average score for eating food is higher among adults living in Flanders (53%) than those living in Brussels (47%) or in Wallonia (44%).
Domain of searching for information about food
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of searching for information about food, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The average score for searching for information was 72% in the general Belgian population aged 18 years and above in 2022-2023.
- The average score for searching for information does not differ according to the sex, whatever the age group.
- In men, the average score for search for information slightly decreases with age, from 74% among men aged 18 to 39 years old to 69% among men aged 65 years and above.
- In women, the average score is higher among women aged 40 to 64 years old (76%) than among women aged 65 years and above (68%).
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of searching for information about food, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The average score for searching for information is lower among adults with a low education level (68%), compared to adults with mid or high education levels (respectively, 75% and 76%).
Average score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above for the domain of searching for information about food, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The average score for searching for information is higher among adults living in Flanders (75%) than those living in Brussels (71%) or in Wallonia (67%). In addition, the average score is higher in Brussels than in Wallonia.
Total food literacy score
Average total food literacy score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above, by age and sex, Belgium: 2022-2023
- This graph presents crude means, i.e. weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The average total score of food literacy was 72% in the general Belgian population aged 18 years and above in 2022-2023.
- Women obtain a higher average total score for food literacy (74%) than men (71%). This difference between sexes is observed among adults aged 40 to 64 years old and among adults aged 65 years and above, but is not present among adults aged 18 to 39 years old.
- In men and women, the average total score of food literacy gradually increases with age.
Average total food literacy score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above, by education level, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Crude = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
- The education level is calculated at the household level by considering the highest diploma obtained by: (i) the respondents or their partner for adults (aged 18 years and above), or (ii) the father and mother (or carer, if applicable) for children and adolescents (aged 3 to 17 years). However, for simplicity, we refer to the education level of individuals rather than the education level of their households.
- The average total score of food literacy gradually increases when the education level increases.
Average total food literacy score (in %) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and above, by region, Belgium: 2022-2023
- Adjusted = results weighted for season, age, sex, and socioeconomic status, and adjusted according to age and sex based on linear regression model (using the Belgian population of 2022-2023 as reference).
- The average total score of food literacy is higher among adults living in Flanders (74%) than among adults living in Brussels (70%) or in Wallonia (69%).
Please cite this page as: Sciensano. Determinants of food choice: Food literacy, Food Consumption Survey 2022-2023, June 2024, Brussels, Belgium, https://www.sciensano.be/en/results-national-food-consumption-survey-2022-2023/determinants-food-choice/food-literacy