Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study
Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents.Design A household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017.Setting A Palestinian district of the West Bank.Participants Palestinian adole...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2022-09-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e061169.full |
| _version_ | 1811182131924172800 |
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| author | Akira Shibanuma Masamine Jimba Akiko Kitamura Junko Kiriya Mohammed B A Sarhan Rika Fujiya Rita Giacaman |
| author_facet | Akira Shibanuma Masamine Jimba Akiko Kitamura Junko Kiriya Mohammed B A Sarhan Rika Fujiya Rita Giacaman |
| author_sort | Akira Shibanuma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents.Design A household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017.Setting A Palestinian district of the West Bank.Participants Palestinian adolescents aged 11–16 years.Results After excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among adolescents who were not exposed to any form of violence, those who had high health literacy in the communication subscale were 72% less likely to be obese compared with those who had low health literacy.Conclusions Health literacy moderated the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status. When health literacy levels were higher, lower obesity rates were observed among adolescents who were directly exposed to any form of violence or exposed either to political violence only or domestic and school violence only. The results warrant further investigation of the role of health literacy in adolescent health. It is recommended that policy-makers integrate the health literacy concept into both education and health systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:28:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-878cfe0f669a4b59a908396242923592 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:28:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-878cfe0f669a4b59a9083962429235922022-12-22T04:31:58ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-09-0112910.1136/bmjopen-2022-061169Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional studyAkira Shibanuma0Masamine Jimba1Akiko Kitamura2Junko Kiriya3Mohammed B A Sarhan4Rika Fujiya5Rita Giacaman6Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanGraduate School of Health Management, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, JapanFaculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, JapanInstitute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, Birzeit, PalestineObjective To examine the moderating role of health literacy in the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status among Palestinian adolescents.Design A household cross-sectional study conducted in 2017.Setting A Palestinian district of the West Bank.Participants Palestinian adolescents aged 11–16 years.Results After excluding underweight adolescents from the 1200 who were initially recruited, the data of 1173 adolescents were analysed. A high proportion (62%) of adolescents were directly exposed to violence. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 6.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The odds of obesity and overweight were 2.8 and 1.8 times higher among adolescents who were not exposed to domestic and school violence when they had low health literacy in the communication subscale. The odds of obesity were 62% and 57% lower among adolescents with high functional health literacy when exposed to domestic and school violence and to any form of violence, respectively. Among adolescents who were not exposed to any form of violence, those who had high health literacy in the communication subscale were 72% less likely to be obese compared with those who had low health literacy.Conclusions Health literacy moderated the association between direct exposure to violence and weight status. When health literacy levels were higher, lower obesity rates were observed among adolescents who were directly exposed to any form of violence or exposed either to political violence only or domestic and school violence only. The results warrant further investigation of the role of health literacy in adolescent health. It is recommended that policy-makers integrate the health literacy concept into both education and health systems.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e061169.full |
| spellingShingle | Akira Shibanuma Masamine Jimba Akiko Kitamura Junko Kiriya Mohammed B A Sarhan Rika Fujiya Rita Giacaman Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study BMJ Open |
| title | Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Health literacy as a key to improving weight status among Palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | health literacy as a key to improving weight status among palestinian adolescents living in chronic conflict conditions a cross sectional study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e061169.full |
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