Determining the level of health literacy in women and the effect of health literacy on the mediterranean diet: Bayburt province example

Literacy is a concept that is important at every stage of our life. Literacy requires not only reading and writing, but also the skills to understand, process and apply reading to our own lives. People are constantly making decisions about their health throughout their lives. It is very important to make the right decisions for a quality and healthy life. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet is included in the literature as the best known and healthy diet method. This diet also includes various food groups such as plants and olive oil, fruits, cereals, fish. In this way, in addition to being healthy, the literature is also used as a model for a sustainable diet that can be applied to every cut. Health and nutrition issues are very important phenomena for human health, which are intertwined with each other. The sample of the study consisted of 403 female individuals between the ages of 18-65 living in Bayburt province. The demographic survey form, the "Turkish Health Literacy Scale-Short Form" scale and the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) scale were used in the research. The data were transferred to the program and analyzed. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests descriptive statistical analysis, Pearson bidirectional correlation analysis and Chi-square analysis tests were applied. It was found that 25.3% of the participants had insufficient health literacy level, 31.8% had problematic-unrestricted health literacy, 34% had adequate health literacy and 9% had excellent health literacy level. It has been found that there is a relationship between demographic data such as educational status, occupation of individuals and health literacy levels. It was found that 34.5% of the participants were at the poor diet level, 52.3% were at the moderate diet level and 13.3% were at the optimal diet level. It was found that there is a relationship between the demographic characteristics of individuals and the Mediterranean diet. It has been found that there is no relationship between individuals' health literacy and the Mediterranean diet.