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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Obesity
Volume 12 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1507379
The role of health literacy in intervention studies targeting children living with overoverweight or obesity and their caregivers parents -a systematic mixed methods review
Provisionally accepted- 1 Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
- 2 Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Nordland, Norway
- 3 Bergen Health Trust, Voss hospital, Department of Surgery, Voss, Norway
- 4 Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Health Promotion Services, Levanger, Norway
Excess weight and obesity are increasing among children. Health literacy has been suggested as a feasible concept for enabling informed health choices in weight management interventions for children and their parents. Knowledge of the skills necessary for a child to maintain new health behaviors is limited and the role of health literacy remains unclear. Thus, there is a need to summarize the effects of and experiences with interventions that include health literacy components to guide the development of effective, future weight-related interventions. Aim To identify how health literacy is integrated into studies of interventions targeting children with excess weight or obesity and/or their parents and to appraise the identified literature. Methods We conducted a systematic mixed methods review, with database searches. We included studies of interventions published after 2013 for children under 19 years with excess weight or obesity and/or their parents, where health literacy played a role. Data were integrated using qualitative data transformation techniques, followed by a narrative summary. Results We identified 7,910 citations and four reports were included. These reports included a total of 402 children. Health literacy was assessed at baseline in two studies and measured as an outcome over time in one study. Methodological quality varied among the retained reports, with differences observed in study design, risk of bias and data collection methods. The reports highlight the need to adapt weight management treatments to the individual level of health literacy in children and their families to first ensure active participation in their treatment and second ensure long-term compliance with necessary lifestyle-related changes. Discussion Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the importance of health literacy in weight management programs targeting children and their families. Seemingly, treatments tailored to the individual level of health literacy have not been prioritized in research. Addressing health literacy in children's weight management continues to be a multifaceted and ambitious mission. Future research should focus on integrating health literacy into weight management interventions in a systematic and theory-driven manner, ensuring that these interventions are tailored to the specific needs of children and their families and can sustain behavior change over time.
Keywords: review, Health Literacy, Interventions, Childhood Obesity, weight management
Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 12 Dec 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Holmen, Flølo, Tørris, Torbjørnsen, Almendingen and Riiser. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Heidi Holmen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
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