For many people trying to eat healthier, the challenge is not knowing what to eat. It’s figuring out how to make those choices work in real life. A new study suggests that building practical food skills, not just knowledge, may play an important role in managing conditions like type 2 diabetes.
Published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, the study found that a food literacy program improved participants’ ability to plan meals, shop on a budget and prepare food. But it also showed that not everyone benefited equally, highlighting ongoing gaps that education alone may not fully address.
Researchers studied 150 rural, uninsured adults with type 2 diabetes who participated in a combined “Food is Medicine” and food literacy program. The intervention included nine group classes focused on practical skills like meal planning, grocery shopping, budgeting and cooking, along with health coaching and produce prescriptions, which provided access to fruits and vegetables through vouchers or deliveries.
After completing the program, participants showed significant improvements in overall food literacy scores, measured using a validated assessment tool.
“Food literacy involves more than simply knowing what foods are healthy. It includes the skills needed to plan meals, shop on a budget, prepare food and navigate complex food environments,” said Brandon J. Stroud, MPH, RDN, CHES, corresponding author of the study.
In other words, understanding nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle. Being able to apply that knowledge day to day is just as important.
At the same time, the study found persistent disparities. Hispanic participants had lower food literacy scores than white participants both before and after the program, particularly in areas like meal planning and budgeting.
That gap points to a key limitation of one-size-fits-all approaches. Even when programs are effective overall, they may not fully address differences in culture, access or lived experience.
“Programs that combine nutrition education with practical skill-building may help individuals better manage chronic conditions such as diabetes,” Stroud said.
The findings support a growing shift toward programs that go beyond traditional nutrition advice. Rather than focusing only on what people should eat, these approaches aim to build the skills needed to make healthy choices more realistic and sustainable.
The study did not list any external funding sources.