Health literacy and its determinants among school-going children: a school-based cross-sectional study in Nepal

TY - JOUR

T1 - Health literacy and its determinants among school-going children

T2 - a school-based cross-sectional study in Nepal

AU - Adhikari, Prakash

AU - Paudel, Kiran

AU - Bhusal, Sandesh

AU - Gautam, Kamal

AU - Khanal, Pratik

AU - Adhikari, Tara Ballav

AU - K C, Prabhat

AU - Shrestha, Roman

AU - Shrestha, Sushan Man

N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].

PY - 2024/8/1

Y1 - 2024/8/1

N2 - Limited health literacy is linked to unhealthy behaviors, adverse health outcomes, poor quality of life and financial burdens on society. However, little is known about the level of health literacy, especially among school-going children. This cross-sectional study assesses health literacy levels and their determinants in 354 school children from Kathmandu Metropolitan City, utilizing a multi-stage cluster sampling method. The 10-item Health Literacy for School-Aged Children was used to measure the student's literacy levels. Bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression at the significance level of 0.05 were performed to determine factors associated with limited health literacy. The majority of participants (76.6%) had moderate health literacy, while 13.8% had a high level and 9.6% had a low level of health literacy. Students from nuclear families had lower odds [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.8] of having limited health literacy. Students whose mother education was up to secondary school (aOR: 10.1; 95% CI: 1.3-78.9), students with pre-existing mental health conditions (aOR: 3.7; 95% CI: 1.4-9.6) and students with unsatisfactory health status (aOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.5-10.5) had higher odds to have limited health literacy. These results suggest the importance of prioritizing school health promotion and education activities for students with pre-existing mental health conditions and mothers with low educational attainment. Implementing peer support group programs for children with mental illnesses, mobilizing school health professionals and introducing interventions such as vocational training of mothers can collectively improve health literacy among school-going children.

AB - Limited health literacy is linked to unhealthy behaviors, adverse health outcomes, poor quality of life and financial burdens on society. However, little is known about the level of health literacy, especially among school-going children. This cross-sectional study assesses health literacy levels and their determinants in 354 school children from Kathmandu Metropolitan City, utilizing a multi-stage cluster sampling method. The 10-item Health Literacy for School-Aged Children was used to measure the student's literacy levels. Bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression at the significance level of 0.05 were performed to determine factors associated with limited health literacy. The majority of participants (76.6%) had moderate health literacy, while 13.8% had a high level and 9.6% had a low level of health literacy. Students from nuclear families had lower odds [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.8] of having limited health literacy. Students whose mother education was up to secondary school (aOR: 10.1; 95% CI: 1.3-78.9), students with pre-existing mental health conditions (aOR: 3.7; 95% CI: 1.4-9.6) and students with unsatisfactory health status (aOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.5-10.5) had higher odds to have limited health literacy. These results suggest the importance of prioritizing school health promotion and education activities for students with pre-existing mental health conditions and mothers with low educational attainment. Implementing peer support group programs for children with mental illnesses, mobilizing school health professionals and introducing interventions such as vocational training of mothers can collectively improve health literacy among school-going children.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Child

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Female

KW - Health Literacy

KW - Health Status

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Nepal

KW - Schools

KW - Socioeconomic Factors

KW - Students/psychology

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

KW - students

KW - health promotion

KW - health literacy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200939743&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/heapro/daae059

DO - 10.1093/heapro/daae059

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 39115185

SN - 0957-4824

VL - 39

JO - Health Promotion International

JF - Health Promotion International

IS - 4

M1 - daae059

ER -