Health literacy impact on nutrition status and water intake in children

Abstract

Abstract Background Health literacy (HL), water intake (WI) and nutrition status (NS) are a growing field of interest in the determinants of health and health promotion. Nevertheless, research focusing HL, WI and NS targeting children is sparse. Therefore, the aim of this study (a component of the CrAdLiSa - developing ChildRen and ADolescents' health Literacy), is to explore the relationship between nutritional status (e.g. BMI), WI and HL levels in Portuguese children towards their HL increment while fighting health disparities. Methods A population cross-sectional study included (n = 725) children enrolled in the school year 2018/2019 of four schools in Santarem and Lisbon. Indicators of anthropometric data, WI, HL levels (using the HLS-EU-PT questionnaire) were collected with the CrAdLiSa online self-administered questionnaire. Results Preliminary results show that the instrument to measure HL (HLS-EU-PT) show satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0,94). The older the age, the lower the amount of WI perception as adequate (p = 0.03); male children (p = 0,02) and children that attend schools in urban area (p = 0,01) drink more water; the older the age, the lower the levels of HL (p = 0.000); children with higher levels of HL have greater WI (p = 0.01) as they have a broader perception of the adequate amount of water needed to be healthy. Conclusions These results of CrAdLiSa study showed the usability of the HLS-EU-PT questionnaire adapted for children to assess their HL levels. Children's perception of WI are the first ever results collected from such a population and are part of a seminal research that is needed to improve quality of life of the Portuguese children.