Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT03482193

Health Literacy and Overweight in Adolescents

Obesity in children and adolescents has become a major public health problem in recent years. In Belgium, 20% of people aged between 2 and 17 are overweight and 7% suffer from obesity. While studies often associate this overweight with socio-economic level, other factors, such as health literacy (HL), may also play a role. Among adolescents, some studies have shown an association between the level of HL and the Body Mass Index (BMI). Our study aims to investigate the association between HL of adolescents and their BMI.

This is a cross-sectional survey among 9 high schools in a medium city of Belgium, including 254 high school students aged between 12-17 years. Health literacy was assessed by the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA). Student's age, sex, weight, size and parental socio-economic status are gathered in the medical file during the medical examination organized by the schools after obtaining the informed consent of the students and their parents.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Overweight and Obesity Body Weight Nutrition Disorders Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Obesity Overnutrition Overweight Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University of Liège

Liège, 4000, Belgium

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Studying in one of the participating school
  • Being in 2nd or 4th year
  • Parental consent to participate

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Health Literacy

    Time frame: 1 day (At the inclusion in the study)

    The degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. It also includes the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. It is measured by the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA) (Ghanbari et al., 2016), which is composed of 44 items. Health literacy was categorized into 4 categories based on the score to the questionnaire: excellent, sufficient, problematic and inadequate.

  2. Body Mass Index

    Time frame: 1 day (At the inclusion in the study)

    Calculated with the standard formula (weight/height²) and categorized into 4 categories (underweight, normal, overweight, obesity) according to the PNNS and IOTF-25 and -30 curves.

  3. Parents' socio-economic status

    Time frame: 1 day (At the inclusion in the study)

    We collected the profession of the parents' through the adolescent's medical file, and categorized them into 4 categories: worker, employee, independent, unemployed.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Language spoken at home

    Time frame: 1 day (At the inclusion in the study)

    Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire

  2. Education type

    Time frame: 1 day (At the inclusion in the study)

    General eduction versus other (differentiated, professional, transition, qualification). Collected through a socio-demographic questionnaire

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Liege

Other

Registry information

Official study title

The Association of Adolescents' Interactive and Critical Health Literacy With Their Overweight: a Study in a Medium Urban City in Belgium

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2017
First posted
Mar 29, 2018
Registry last updated
Apr 2, 2018

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.