Overweight and Obesity
Conditions
Brief summary
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.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
University of Liege
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Studying in one of the participating school * Being in 2nd or 4th year * Parental consent to participate
Exclusion criteria
* None
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health Literacy | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 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. |
| Body Mass Index | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | 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. |
| Parents' socio-economic status | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | We collected the profession of the parents' through the adolescent's medical file, and categorized them into 4 categories: worker, employee, independent, unemployed. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Language spoken at home | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire |
| Education type | 1 day (At the inclusion in the study) | General eduction versus other (differentiated, professional, transition, qualification). Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire |
Countries
Belgium
Outcome results
None listed