Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Archives of Public Health
Published in: Archives of Public Health 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research

Is low health literacy associated with overweight and obesity in adolescents: an epidemiology study in a 12–16 years old population, Nanning, China, 2012

Authors: Lawrence T Lam, Li Yang

Published in: Archives of Public Health | Issue 1/2014

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The problem of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is considered an epidemic in both developed and developing world by the WHO. There has been little study on the relationship between health literacy and body weight among adolescents.
This epidemiological study aims to investigate the association between low health literacy and overweight and obesity among a population of Chinese adolescents aged 12–16 years in the city of Nanning, China in 2012.

Methods

This study was a population-based cross-sectional health survey utilising a two-stage random cluster sampling design. The sample consisted of high school students aged between 12–16 years with the total student population attending high schools in a large city as the sample frame. Health literacy was measured by the Chinese version of the short form of the Test of Functional Health Literacy translated for and validated among Taiwanese adolescents. Overweight and obesity were assessed in accordance to the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Database of Body Mass Index classification methods. Data were analysed using logistic regression modelling techniques with adjustment to the cluster sampling effect.

Results

A total of 1035 students responded to the survey providing usable information with 628 (48.1%) respondents classified as high, 558 (42.8%) moderate, and 119 (9.1%) low levels of health literacy. After adjusting for potential confounding factors and the cluster sampling effect, low health literacy was significantly associated with overweight and obesity (OR = 1.84, 95% C.I. = 1.13-2.99).

Conclusion

Results suggested that low health literacy level was associated with many aspects of adolescence health including their body weight. These results have public health implications on an important global problem of adolescence body weight. Enhancing the health literacy should be considered as part of the strategies in combating adolescence weight problem.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Institute of Medicine: Health literacy: a prescription to end confusion. 2004, Washington, DC: National Academies Press
2.
3.
Nutbean D: The evolving concept of health literacy. Soc Sci Med. 2008, 67: 2072-2078. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.050.CrossRef
4.
Sørensen K, Van den Broucke S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, Brand H: (HLS-EU) Consortium Health Literacy Project European. Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health. 2012, 12: 80-10.1186/1471-2458-12-80.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
Davis TC, Crouch M, Wills G, Abdehou D: Rapid assessment of literacy levels of adult primary care patients. Fam Med. 1991, 23: 433-455.PubMed
6.
Parker RM, Baker DW, Williams MV, Nurss JR: The test of functional health literacy in adults: a new instrument for measuring patients’ literacy skills. J Gen Intern Med. 1995, 10: 537-541. 10.1007/BF02640361.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Davis TC, Wolf MS, Arnold CL, Byrd RS, Long SW, Springer T, Kennen E, Bocchini JA: Development and validation of the Rapid Estimate of Adolescent Literacy in Medicine (REALM-Teen): a tool to screen adolescents for below-grade reading in health care settings. Pediatrics. 2006, 118: e1707-1714. 10.1542/peds.2006-1139.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Lee SY, Bender DE, Ruiz RE, Cho YI: Development of an easy-to-use Spanish health literacy test. Health Serv Res. 2006, 41: 1392-1412.PubMedPubMedCentral
9.
Hanson-Divers EC: Developing a medical achievement reading test to evaluate patient literacy skills: a preliminary study. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 1997, 8: 56-69. 10.1353/hpu.2010.0304.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Baker DW, Williams MV, Parker RM, Gazmararian JA, Nurss J: Development of a brief test to measure functional health literacy. Patient Educ Couns. 1999, 38: 33-42. 10.1016/S0738-3991(98)00116-5.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Weiss BD, Mays MZ, Martz W, Castro KM, DeWalt DA, Pignone MP, Mockbee J, Hale FA: Quick assessment of literacy in primary care: the newest vital sign. Ann Fam Med. 2005, 3: 514-522. 10.1370/afm.405.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
12.
Morris NS, MacLean CD, Chew LD, Littenberg B: The single item literacy screener: evaluation of a brief instrument to identify limited reading ability. BMC Fam Pract. 2006, 7: 21-10.1186/1471-2296-7-21.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
13.
14.
Ishikawa H, Takeuchi T, Yano E: Measuring functional, communicative, and critical health literacy among diabetic patients. Diabetes Care. 2008, 31: 874-879. 10.2337/dc07-1932.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Pan FC, Su C, Chen C: Development of a health literacy scale for Chinese-speaking adults in Taiwan. Int J Biolog Life Sci. 2010, 6: 150-156.
16.
Chisolm DJ, Buchanan L: Measuring adolescent functional health literacy: a pilot validation of the test of functional health literacy in adults. J Adol Health. 2007, 41: 312-314. 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.04.015.CrossRef
17.
Jordan JE, Osborne RH, Buchbinder R: Critical appraisal of health literacy indices revealed variable underlying constructs, narrow content and psychometric weakness. J Clinic Epidemiol. 2011, 64: 366-379. 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.04.005.CrossRef
18.
Williams MV, Parker RM, Baker DW, Parikh NS, Pitkin K, Coates WC, Nurss JR: Inadequate functional health literacy among patients at two public hospitals. JAMA. 1995, 274: 1677-1682. 10.1001/jama.1995.03530210031026.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Cutilli CC: Health literacy in geriatric patients: an integrative review of the literature. Orthop Nur. 2007, 26: 43-48.
20.
Sahm LJ, Wolf MS, Curtis LM, McCarthy S: Prevalence of limited health literacy among Irish adults. J Health Commun. 2012, 17 (Suppl 3): 100-108.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Ghaddar SF, Valerio MA, Garcia CM, Hansen L: Adolescent health literacy: the importance of credible sources for online health information. J Sch Health. 2012, 82: 28-36. 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00664.x.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Chang L, Hsieh P, Liu C: Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the short-form test of functional health literacy in adolescents. J Clinic Nursing. 2012, 21: 2429-2437. 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04147.x.CrossRef
23.
Chang L: Health literacy, self-reported status and health promoting behaviours for adolescents in Taiwan. J Clinic Nursing. 2010, 20: 190-196.CrossRef
24.
Fletcher A, Bonell C, Sorhaindo A: You are what your friends eat: systematic review of social network analyses of young people’s eating behaviours and bodyweight. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2011, 65: 548-555. 10.1136/jech.2010.113936.CrossRefPubMed
25.
de Onis M, Blössner M, Borghi E: Global prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among preschool children. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010, 92: 1257-1264. 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29786.CrossRefPubMed
26.
DeWait DA, Berkman ND, Sheridan S, Lohr K, Pignone MP: Literacy and health outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. J Gen Intern Med. 2004, 19: 1228-1239. 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.40153.x.CrossRef
27.
Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpan DJ, Crothy K: Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011, 155: 97-107. 10.7326/0003-4819-155-2-201107190-00005.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Bishwalata R, Singh AB, Singh AJ, Devi LU, Singh RK: Overweight and obesity among schoolchildren in Manipur, India. Natl Med J India. 2010, 23: 263-266.PubMed
29.
Sharif I, Blank AE: Relationship between child health literacy and body mass index on overweight children. Patient Educ Counsel. 2010, 79: 43-48. 10.1016/j.pec.2009.07.035.CrossRef
30.
World Health Organization: Global recommendations on physical activity for health. 2010, Geneva: World Health Organization
31.
Parsons TJ, Power C, Logan S, Summerbell CD: Childhood predictors of adult obesity: a systematic review. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999, 23 (Suppl 8): S1-S107.PubMed
32.
33.
Li Y, Zhai F, Zhai F: Determinants of childhood overweight and obesity in China. Brit J Nutrit. 2007, 97: 210-215. 10.1017/S0007114507280559.CrossRefPubMed
34.
van der Heide I, Rademakers J, Schipper M, Droomers M, Sørensen K, Uiters E: Health literacy of Dutch adults: a cross sectional survey. BMC Public Health. 2013, 13: 179-10.1186/1471-2458-13-179.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
35.
Gilmour JA: Reducing disparities in the access and use of Internet health information: a discussion paper. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007, 44: 1270-1278. 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.05.007.CrossRefPubMed
36.
37.
World Health Organization: Overview of the World Health Report 2003. 2003, Geneva: Shaping the future
38.
39.
Rothman KJ, Greenland S: Morden Epidemiology 2nd Ed. 1998, Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Metadata
Title
Is low health literacy associated with overweight and obesity in adolescents: an epidemiology study in a 12–16 years old population, Nanning, China, 2012
Authors
Lawrence T Lam
Li Yang
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Archives of Public Health / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 2049-3258
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/2049-3258-72-11

Other articles of this Issue 1/2014

Archives of Public Health 1/2014 Go to the issue

Research

A Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis (CDT) in a resource-limited setting: a dragnet for patients with heart disease?

Research

An innovative approach to using both cellphones and the radio to identify young people’s sexual concerns in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Research

Access to social capital and risk of HIV infection in Bukoba urban district, Kagera region, Tanzania

Research

Mode differences in a mixed-mode health interview survey among adults

Research

Development of a theory- and evidence-based intervention to enhance implementation of physical therapy guidelines for the management of low back pain

Research

Prevalence and determinants of Campylobacter infection among under five children with acute watery diarrhea in Mwanza, North Tanzania