Health Literacy and Overweight in Adolescents

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Obesity in children and adolescents has become a major public health problem in recent years. In Belgium, 20% of people aged between 2 and 17 are overweight and 7% suffer from obesity. While studies often associate this overweight with socio-economic level, other factors, such as health literacy (HL), may also play a role. Among adolescents, some studies have shown an association between the level of HL and the Body Mass Index (BMI). Our study aims to investigate the association between HL of adolescents and their BMI. This is a cross-sectional survey among 9 high schools in a medium city of Belgium, including 254 high school students aged between 12-17 years. Health literacy was assessed by the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA). Student's age, sex, weight, size and parental socio-economic status are gathered in the medical file during the medical examination organized by the schools after obtaining the informed consent of the students and their parents.

Official Title
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The Association of Adolescents' Interactive and Critical Health Literacy With Their Overweight: a Study in a Medium Urban City in Belgium

Conditions
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Overweight and Obesity

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Studying in one of the participating school Being in 2nd or 4th year Parental consent to participate Exclusion Criteria: None
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Adolescents<br>Adolescents in 2nd or 4th year in secondary school, from 9 different schools in Liège, Belgium. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health Literacy | The degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. It also includes the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. It is measured by the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA) (Ghanbari et al., 2016), which is composed of 44 items. Health literacy was categorized into 4 categories based on the score to the questionnaire: excellent, sufficient, problematic and inadequate. | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 
| Body Mass Index | Calculated with the standard formula (weight/height²) and categorized into 4 categories (underweight, normal, overweight, obesity) according to the PNNS and IOTF-25 and -30 curves. | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 
| Parents' socio-economic status | We collected the profession of the parents' through the adolescent's medical file, and categorized them into 4 categories: worker, employee, independent, unemployed. | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Language spoken at home | Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 
| Education type | General eduction versus other (differentiated, professional, transition, qualification). Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) |