The Association Between Parents’ Health Literacy, Adolescents’ Health Literacy and Physical Activity: A Cross‐Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Objective The aim of this study was to determine the association between parents’ health literacy, adolescents’ health literacy and physical activity status. Methods This cross‐sectional study sample consisted of 521 adolescent and parent dyads from a middle school in Türkiye. Data were collected using the “Descriptive Information Form,” “Health Literacy Scale for School‐aged Children (HLSAC‐T),” “Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS),” and “Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ).” Results The mean age of the adolescents was 11.61 ± 1.13, and 54.9% were girls. The mean age of the parents was 39.44 ± 7.32 and 89.4% were mothers. The mean total score of HLSAC‐T was 32.00 ± 5.65, the mean total score of PAQ was 26.24 ± 6.82, and the mean total score of AHLS was 18.00 ± 3.85. A moderate positive correlation was found between HLSAC‐T and PAQ scores ( r = 0.352, p = 0.000). There was a weak positive correlation between HLSAC‐T and AHLS scores ( r = 0.280, p = 0.000), and a moderate positive correlation between AHLS and PAQ scores ( r = 0.442, p = 0.000). Conclusion There was a moderately significant relationship between health literacy and physical activity levels of adolescents. The study also examined the relationship between parental health literacy, adolescents’ health literacy and physical activity levels. While there was a significant, weak relationship between parental health literacy and adolescents' health literacy levels, there was a moderately significant relationship between parental health literacy and adolescents' physical activity levels.