Research on the health literacy of professionals working in early childhood education

Abstract

The aim of the research is to map the health literacy of Hungarian early childhood educators through the exploration of the characteristics of their health condition and health behaviour. Early childhood educators, kindergarten teachers, teaching assistants and nurses were involved in our quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive research (N = 1010). The data obtained by using a measuring tool containing standardised questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and variance analysis (ANOVA; p < 0.05). Based on our findings we can state that-compared to the Hungarian population as a whole-the examined population is in a more favourable situation both in terms of health condition and health behaviour. However, because of their role-model status, the further improvement of health literacy-related skills of professionals working in early childhood education is still of the utmost importance, as this improvement can contribute to the foundation of rising generations' health literacy.

Understanding Health Literacy among University Health Science Students of Different Nationalities

“…Including health literacy in curriculum is an essential stage, because it is not only about the knowledge, but also developing behavior habits [ 31 ]). The educators of young children were found to have a higher level of health literacy compared to that of the general Hungarian population [ 32 ].…”

Pedagógusok szakmai közérzetének konceptuális megközelítése és vizsgálata a koragyermekkori pedagógiai professzióban

“…Az elemzés tárgyát képező adatok egy komplex vizsgálat eredményeképpen születtek, melynek keretében a koragyermekkori nevelésben dolgozó pedagógusok egészségmagatartását, egészségi állapotát és szakmai közérzetét -ideértve a kiégés mértékét -tártuk fel (Csima et al, 2018;Fináncz et al, 2020).…”

Health Literacy in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies

“…Many studies deal with the health literacy of parents, caregivers and professionals working in health care and in early childhood education [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Studies on teachers’ health literacy has focused on two domains of the Sorensen typology [ 14 ], that is, their knowledge and competencies related to prevention and health promotion [ 15 , 16 ], whereby mental health literacy appears as a separate area [ 8 , 17 , 18 ].…”

“…Despite the fact that in recent years, examining the effects of interventions during early childhood has become a priority for researchers [ 40 , 41 ], only a few studies deal with the HL level of children under the age of eight [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. However, studying this field is essential because the establishment of a preventive health attitude and the formation of health-related good habits occur in early childhood [ 15 ].…”