590 - Parental Health Literacy and Childhood Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study in an Urban Community Hospital.

Publication Number: 4578.590

saisree konda, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Amrita Gujar, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Ankita Nanda, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Trinita Robinson, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Lewis Krata, brooklyn Hospital Centerr, Brooklyn, NY, United States

Background: Childhood obesity poses substantial health risks, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and psychosocial impacts. Parental understanding and health behaviors greatly influence their child's health outcomes. Health literacy (HL), defined as the ability to effectively access, understand, and use health information, is critical for healthy decision-making and lifestyle management. Enhanced parental health literacy may favorably influence and diminish the risk of obesity in children.

Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the relationship between parental HL and childhood obesity among families in the pediatric outpatient department of an urban community hospital.

Design/Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the pediatric outpatient department of an urban community hospital. A validated HL questionnaire - BRIEF: Health Literacy Screening Tool (BHLS) - was completed by parents of children ages 3 to 13 years. This age group was prioritized due to the greater level of parental involvement in their children's nutrition. HL scores were categorized as follows: Limited (4-12), Marginal (13-16), and Adequate (17-20). Obesity was defined using the CDC definition of BMI more than or equal to the 95th percentile for age. There was no significant difference between the patient characteristics and obese and non-obese groups. Pearson correlation and chi-square tests assessed relationships between HL scores and obesity.

Results: Of 67 parent-child pairs, 70.1% (47/67) of parents had Adequate HL, 22.4% (15/67) had Marginal HL, and 7.5% (5/67) had limited HL. Among the children, 49.3% (33/67) met criteria for obesity, defined as BMI ≥95th percentile. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant negative association between HL score and BMI percentile (r = –0.33, p = 0.008), suggesting that reduced parental HL correlates with elevated child BMI. Chi-square testing indicated a significant connection between HL category and obesity status (p = 0.01), indicating that obesity is more prevalent among families with marginal or limited HL.

Conclusion(s): The study indicated that parents with lower health literacy significantly correlated with a higher prevalence of obesity in their children, as evidenced by higher BMI percentiles associated with reduced health literacy scores. This highlights the importance of strategies for childhood obesity by including health literacy-focused education aimed at improving parental understanding of diet, physical activity, and weight management, particularly in urban community hospital settings. Further larger studies are needed to validate these results.

Table 1. Association Between Parental Health Literacy Categories and Childhood Obesity Status
Image 11-3-25 at 2.49 PM.jpegThis table demonstrates the distribution of obesity status among children based on parental health literacy levels. Obesity was more prevalent among families with marginal or limited health literacy.