A health literate approach to the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity

Abstract

Objective To describe a systematic assessment of patient educational materials for the Growing Right Onto Wellness (GROW) trial, a childhood obesity prevention study targeting a low health literate population. Methods Process included: (1) expert review of educational content, (2) assessment of the quality of materials including use of the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) tool, and (3) material review and revision with target population. Results 12 core modules were developed and assessed in an iterative process. Average readability was at the 6th grade reading level (SMOG Index 5.63 ± 0.76, and Fry graph 6.0 ± 0.85). SAM evaluation resulted in adjustments to literacy demand, layout & typography, and learning stimulation & motivation. Cognitive interviews with target population revealed additional changes incorporated to enhance participant's perception of acceptability and feasibility for behavior change. Conclusion The GROW modules are a collection of evidence-based materials appropriate for parents with low health literacy and their preschool aged children, that target the prevention of childhood overweight/obesity. Practice implications Most trials addressing the treatment or prevention of childhood obesity use written materials. Due to the ubiquitous prevalence of limited health literacy, our described methods may assist researchers in ensuring their content is both understood and actionable.

Nutritional knowledge and habits of adolescents aged 9 to 13 years in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates: a crosssectional study

“…Our results show a great lack of knowledge of healthy nutrition and healthy eating habits and suggest that, without active intervention, these young people are at risk of obesity, nutritional deficiencies and associated health problems. Consistent with previous research (21,40) findings reporting a strong association between the nutritional knowledge of adolescents and their eating habits, our findings also showed a positive association between higher levels of nutritional knowledge and healthier eating habits, including eating more fruit and vegetables, eating breakfast more regularly, and eating fewer unhealthy snacks and less fast food.…”

“…For example, a 2013 study in the USA also described a multifaceted educational intervention comprising experiential and interactive lessons, activities and demonstrations designed to improve the nutritional knowledge and behaviours among lowincome women from various ethnic backgrounds (42). Another study in 2013 study addressed the health literacy of parents as a key way of improving the weight of obese children by developing visual informational resources for them and a 2014 study in the USA used educational lessons for preschool children to increase their knowledge about healthy nutrition (21,40).…”

“…Obesity in adolescence predisposes a young person to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis (2, [12][13][14][15][16]. It has also been suggested that obesity in adolescence may adversely affect academic performance (12)(13)(14)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). It is important to remember that obesity and nutritional deficiencies are not mutually exclusive, there may be a double burden for many of both obesity and nutrient deficiencies (such as iron deficiency and zinc deficiency) (11,22).…”

“…Growing evidence suggests obesity can be prevented by improving adolescents' knowledge of healthy nutrition, promoting healthy lifestyles and increasing physical activity, in conjunction with changing adolescents' attitudes towards adopting healthy behaviours (6,21,(23)(24)(25)(26). Schools can and should play a central role in delivering interventions about these issues (27).…”

Difteri Pada Anak

“…Sementara pada tahun 2015 terdapat 252 kasus difteri dengan 5 kasus meninggal sehingga CFR 1,98% dan gambaran menurut umur terbanyak pada usia 5-9 tahun dan 1-4 tahun. 7,12,14 Gambaran perkembangan difteri di Indonesia mulai tahun 2010-2017 tertera pada Grafik 1.…”