Assessing Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behaviors among Female Students

People with limited health literacy show a low level of health promoting behaviors. This study is performed aiming to determine relationship between health literacy status and health promoting behaviors among female high school students in Tehran, Iran, in 2018.

This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 370 people using cluster sampling method. Data were collected through demographic and background questionnaires, Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents (HELMA), and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) and analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests in SPSS software.

The mean scores of health promotion behaviors and health literacy were 57.54 ± 11.24 (moderate) and 59.92 ± 12.87 (inadequate), respectively. The highest mean scores of health promotion behavior and health literacy dimensions were stress control (65.55) and perception (74.15) and the lowest mean scores were health responsibility (50.18) and calculation (43.69), respectively. There was a direct and significant relationship between health literacy and health promotion behaviors (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) with the study of magazines and the interest in health issues. However, the relationship between the use of the Internet and the evaluation of the health status with these dimensions was inverse and significant. There was an inverse relationship between the health promoting behaviors with educational stage (r = -0.35, P < 0.001) and age (r = -0.31 , P < 0.001), and a significant relationship with the field of study (r = 0.30, P < 0.001).

According to the study results, it is necessary to develop curriculum for promoting these behaviors and increase the health literacy in cyberspace.