The relationship between obesogenic nutrition in secondary school children and health literacy of parents

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between obesogenic feeding behaviors and food cravings of middle school students and their parents' health literacy (HL). This research is of a cross-sectional nature. The study was conducted among middle school students in the central district of Yozgat province in 2022. Data for the study were obtained using a socio-demographic data form prepared by the researcher, the Obesogenic Environment Assessment Form (OEAF), the European Health Literacy Scale Turkish Short Form (EHLS-TR-16), and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for food cravings. A total of 583 students and parents participated in the study. When examining the body mass index (BMI) percentile values of the participating children, it was found that 6,9% were underweight, 18,2% were overweight, and 9,3% were obese. It can be stated that 18.4% of the children were willing and 22,5% were very willing towards obesogenic foods. Children were determined that 24,4% were at a risky level in terms of obesogenic environment. Factors such as being a girl (β=0,145), not engaging in sports activities out of class (β=-0,132), decrease in family income level (β=-0,093), and advancement in school grade level (β=0,085) were found to increase the obesogenic childhood environment score (p<0,05). No significant relationship was found between OEAF's score and other family and child factors such as the mother's HL level, and the education level of the mother and father. In this study, a significant relationship has not been found between the mother's health literacy level and children being overweight or obese, their preference for obesogenic foods, and having an obesogenic environment.