Subjective health literacy among school-aged children

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Subjective health literacy among school-aged children Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to explore Finnish adolescents' subjective health literacy (HL) in association to school achievement, learning difficulties, educational aspirations, and family affluence. Design/methodology/approach Nationally representative data were collected in Finland as part of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The respondents consisted in total of 3,833 adolescents (7th and 9th graders) from 359 schools. The Health Literacy for School-aged Children (HLSAC) instrument was applied to measure adolescents' subjective HL, while the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) was used to measure adolescents' socioeconomic status. Information was gathered on school achievement, learning difficulties, and educational aspirations. Findings Approximately one third of the adolescents manifested a high level of HL, around 60% had a moderate level of HL, and about one tenth had low HL. The HL level was lower for boys than for girls, and lower for 7th graders than for 9th graders. In the total sample the strongest explanatory variables for HL were school achievement in the first language, and educational aspirations. Originality/value This study provides the first Finnish nationally representative examination of adolescents' subjective HL levels, and how these vary across age and gender groups. In drawing conclusions and presenting suggestions for HL interventions, it is important to verify the nature of the HL examined in any given study, and how it was researched.

Adolescents’ health literacy, health protective measures, and health-related quality of life during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…A probable explanation for this is that the HLSAC instrument caused a ceiling effect. According to cut points proposed, the sample and subgroup HL mean scores were medium and close to high [13,31]. This could also be caused by the age range of the present sample.…”

Making a Case for “Education for Health Literacy”: An International Perspective

“…Compared to adult health literacy, evidence on children and adolescents' health literacy is rather limited. The Finnish data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey (HBSC) shows that 1/3 of the 7th and 9th graders had high levels of health literacy and around 60% had shown moderate levels [10]. The HBSC results for Lithuania show high levels of health literacy in 17.4% of the children, while 70.5% were found to have moderate levels [11].…”

“…A school-based survey on health literacy in 6th graders in Taiwan found that 44% of the children had high levels of health literacy (high: 16.3%; very high: 27.7%), while 56% had low health literacy (very low: 26.6%; low: 29.5%) [12]. In the past, studies have also shown that higher levels of health literacy are associated with better health behaviors in adolescents [13], that higher health literacy in school-aged children is associated with increased health outcomes [10,12] and that higher levels of health literacy have an impact of physical activity and self-reported health in adolescents [14].…”

Shaping Alcohol Health Literacy: A Systematic Concept Analysis and Review

“…and apply health information in order to make judgments and take decisions in everyday life" (Sørensen et al, 2012, p. 3). A number of explanations have been developed that describe the constructs and variables that either predict health literacy rates (Berkman, Sheridan, Donahue, Halpern, & Crotty, 2011) or describe the outcomes associated with the level of health literacy in a population [e.g., those living with diabetes (Schillinger et al, 2002), cancer (Morris et al, 2013), or children and young people (e.g., Paakkari, Torppa, Villberg, Kannas, & Paakkari, 2018;Parisod, Axelin, Smed, & Salanterä, 2016)]. An early analysis of the health literacy concept (Speros, 2005) described the defining attributes of health literacy as reading and numeracy skills, comprehension, the capacity to use information in health care decisionmaking, and successful functioning as a health care consumer including navigating health care systems.…”