Marijana Geets-Kesić1, Nevenka Maras2, Barbara Gilić1

1University of Split, Faculty of Kinesiology, Split, Croatia
2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education, Zagreb, Croatia

Analysis of the Association Between Health Literacy, Physical Literacy, and Scholastic Achievement; A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study Among High- School Students From Southern Croatia

Monten. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2023, 12(1), 3-9 | DOI: 10.26773/mjssm.230301

Abstract

Theoretically, health literacy (HL) and physical literacy (PL) should be associated with overall education, but little is known about their association with scholastic achievement. The aim of this study was to investigate whether scholastic variables relate to HL and PL among high-school adolescents. We observed 268 high school students (202 females, 66 males) who were assessed on HL using the HLS-EU47 questionnaire and PL by PLAYself questionnaire. Scholastic variables included grade point average and excused and unexcused number of absences from school. Gender-stratified correlations, cluster analysis, and discriminant canonical analysis were calculated to establish the associations between study variables. The correlations between HL and scholastic variables were generally poor, while statistically significant correlations between grade point average and HL were noted only among girls (R=0.16, p<0.05). Cluster and discriminant analyses confirmed higher HL and PL among girls who were better at school. While associations between HL and PL with scholastic achievement were generally poor, our results point to the necessity of further investigation of a problem. Hence, specific types of knowledge should be explored as possible correlates of HL and PL in adolescence.

Keywords

adolescents, health behavior, lifestyle, pedagogy, teachers



View full article
(PDF – 563KB)

References

Buja, A., Rabensteiner, A., Sperotto, M., Grotto, G., Bertoncello, C., Cocchio, S., Baldovin, T., Contu, P., Lorini, C., & Baldo, V. (2020). Health Literacy and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 17(12), 1259-1274. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2020-0161

Cairney, J., Dudley, D., Kwan, M., Bulten, R., & Kriellaars, D. (2019). Physical Literacy, Physical Activity and Health: Toward an Evidence-Informed Conceptual Model. Sports Medicine, 49(3), 371-383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01063-3

Caldwell, H. A. T., Di Cristofaro, N. A., Cairney, J., Bray, S. R., MacDonald, M. J., & Timmons, B. W. (2020). Physical Literacy, Physical Activity, and Health Indicators in School-Age Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155367

Cornish, K., Fox, G., Fyfe, T., Koopmans, E., Pousette, A., & Pelletier, C. A. (2020). Understanding physical literacy in the context of health: a rapid scoping review. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1569. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09583-8

de Albuquerque, J. V., Chen, Y., Moir, F., & Henning, M. (2022). School-based interventions to improve health literacy of senior high school students: a scoping review protocol. JBI Evid enced Synthesis, 20(4), 1165-1173. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbies-21-00333

de Bruin, W. B. (2012). Judgment and decision making in adolescents. In Judgment and decision making as a skill: Learning, development and evolution. (pp. 85-111). Cambridge University Press.

Geets Kesic, M., Penjak, A., & Sekulic, D. (2022). Reliability and validity of the croatian version of the european health literacy survey questionnaire. Montenegrin Journal of sports Science and Medicine, Abstracts from the 19th Annual Scientific Conference of Montenegrin Sports Academy “Sport, Physical Activity and Health: Contemporary perspectives”: Dubrovnik, Croatia. 7-10 April 2022., 11, 1.

Gilic, B., Malovic, P., Sunda, M., Maras, N., & Zenic, N. (2022). Adolescents with Higher Cognitive and Affective Domains of Physical Literacy Possess Better Physical Fitness: The Importance of Developing the Concept of Physical Literacy in High Schools. Children (Basel), 9(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/children9060796

Guo, S., Yu, X., Davis, E., Armstrong, R., & Naccarella, L. (2021). Health Literacy: An Interactive Outcome Among Secondary Students in Beijing. Health Literacy Research and Practice, 5(1), e1-e14. https://doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20201117-01

Huck, S. W. (2008). Reading Statistics and Research. Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. https://books.google.si/books?id=y_pLAQAAIAAJ

Idrizovic, K., Zenic, N., Tahirajl, E., Rausavljevic, N., & Sekulic, D. (2015). Cigarette Smoking among 17-18 Year Old Adolescents - Prevalence and Association with Sociodemographic, Familial, Sport, and Scholastic. Factors. Medicina Pracy, 66(2), 153-163. https://doi.org/10.13075/mp.5893.00104

Jefferies, P., Bremer, E., Kozera, T., Cairney, J., & Kriellaars, D. (2021). Psychometric properties and construct validity of PLAYself: A self-reported measure of physical literacy for children and youth. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 46(6), 579-588.

Kesic, M. G., Savicevic, A. J., Peric, M., Gilic, B., & Zenic, N. (2022). Specificity of the Associations between Indices of Cardiovascular Health with Health Literacy and Physical Literacy; A Cross-Sectional Study in Older Adolescents. Medicina (Kaunas), 58(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58101316

Klinker, C. D., Aaby, A., Ringgaard, L. W., Hjort, A. V., Hawkins, M., & Maindal, H. T. (2020). Health Literacy is Associated with Health Behaviors in Students from Vocational Education and Training Schools: A Danish Population-Based Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020671

Martins, J., Onofre, M., Mota, J., Murphy, C., Repond, R.-M., Vost, H., Cremosini, B., Svrdlim, A., Markovic, M., & Dudley, D. (2021). International approaches to the definition, philosophical tenets, and core elements of physical literacy: A scoping review. PROSPECTS, 50(1-2), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09466-1

Nelson, M. C., & Gordon-Larsen, P. (2006). Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns are associated with selected adolescent health risk behaviors. Pediatrics, 117(4), 1281-1290. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2005-1692

Olujić, I., & Maras, N. (2021). Razlike u školskom uspjehu učenika osnovne škole s obzirom na pohađanje programa produženog boravka. Nova prisutnost: časopis za intelektualna i duhovna pitanja, 19(2), 345-356.

Qiao, H., Wang, X., Qin, Z., Wang, N., Zhang, N., & Xu, F. (2021). The relationship between health literacy and health-related quality of life among school-aged children in regional China. Health Quality and Life Outcomes, 19(1), 262. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-021-01895-6

Schmitz, K. H., Lytle, L. A., Phillips, G. A., Murray, D. M., Birnbaum, A. S., & Kubik, M. Y. (2002). Psychosocial correlates of physical activity and sedentary leisure habits in young adolescents: the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at School study. Preventive Medicine, 34(2), 266-278. https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.2001.0982

Schulenkorf, T., Krah, V., Dadaczynski, K., & Okan, O. (2021). Addressing Health Literacy in Schools in Germany: Concept Analysis of the Mandatory Digital and Media Literacy School Curriculum. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 687389. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.687389

Sekulic, D., Ostojic, D., Decelis, A., Castro-Piñero, J., Jezdimirovic, T., Drid, P., Ostojic, L., & Gilic, B. (2021). The Impact of Scholastic Factors on Physical Activity Levels during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Prospective Study on Adolescents from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Children (Basel), 8(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/children8100877

Sørensen, K., Van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J., Doyle, G., Pelikan, J., Slonska, Z., & Brand, H. (2012). Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health, 12, 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-80

St Leger, L. (2001). Schools, health literacy and public health: possibilities and challenges. Health Promotion Int, 16(2), 197-205. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/16.2.197

Sunda, M., Gilic, B., Sekulic, D., Matic, R., Drid, P., Alexe, D. I., Cucui, G. G., & Lupu, G. S. (2022). Out-of-School Sports Participation Is Positively Associated with Physical Literacy, but What about Physical Education? A Cross-Sectional Gender-Stratified Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic among High-School Adolescents. Children (Basel), 9(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/children9050753

Štefan, L., Sorić, M., Devrnja, A., Petrić, V., & Mišigoj-Duraković, M. (2020). One-year changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior among adolescents: the Croatian Physical Activity in Adolescence Longitudinal Study (CRO-PALS). International journal of adolescent medicine and health, 32(5).

Vrkić Dimić, J., & Vidov, S. (2019). E-dnevnik u školskoj praksi–mišljenja i iskustva nastavnika srednjih škola. Acta Iadertina, 16(1), 0-0.

Whatnall, M. C., Patterson, A. J., Burrows, T. L., & Hutchesson, M. J. (2019). Higher diet quality in university students is associated with higher academic achievement: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Human Nutrition and Diet, 32(3), 321-328. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12632

Zubak, Z., Zenic, N., Ostojic, L., Zubak, I., & Pojskic, H. (2018). A Prospective Study on the Influence of Scholastic Factors on the Prevalence and Initiation of Illicit Drug Misuse in Adolescence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050874

Žiljak, T., & Baketa, N. (2019). Education Policy in Croatia. In Z. Petak & K. Kotarski (Eds.), Policy-Making at the European Periphery: The Case of Croatia (pp. 265-283). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73582-5_14