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Examining the health literacy and health behaviours of children aged 8–11 in Wales, UK
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Emily Lowthian ,
Michaela James ,
Nia Davies,
Tom Crick
Health Promotion International, Volume: 40, Issue: 2, Start page: daaf026
Swansea University Authors:
Emily Marchant , Emily Lowthian , Michaela James , Tom Crick
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© The Author(s) 2025. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/heapro/daaf026
Abstract
Childhood is a period of significant formative development where knowledge, skills, and capacities for adequate health literacy are acquired, particularly within school settings. The new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), phasing in from September 2022 for learners aged 3–16 years, places statutory focus o...
| Published in: | Health Promotion International |
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| ISSN: | 0957-4824 1460-2245 |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press (OUP)
2025
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68934 |
| Abstract: |
Childhood is a period of significant formative development where knowledge, skills, and capacities for adequate health literacy are acquired, particularly within school settings. The new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), phasing in from September 2022 for learners aged 3–16 years, places statutory focus on health and well-being and school-level curriculum design, providing unprecedented opportunities to empower children as agents in making health-enhancing decisions. Designing, tracking, and evaluating impacts of the CfW on children’s health literacy requires scalable monitoring tools; however, research efforts have focused on adolescent populations. This national-scale scoping and pilot study, the first to explore children’s health literacy in Wales, piloted the Health Literacy for School-Aged Children (HLSAC-5) within the existing nationwide Health and Attainment of Pupils in Primary EducatioN (HAPPEN-Wales) health and well-being survey to examine the health literacy of children aged 8–11 (n = 2607) and explore associations between health literacy and health behaviours. Children’s health literacy was categorized as low (22.6%), moderate (50.4%), and high (27.0%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses suggest high health literacy compared to low health literacy was associated with higher sleep [relative risk ratio (RRR): 1.08, 95% CI 1.01–1.15], higher weekly physical activity (RRR: 1.13, 95% CI 1.03–1.25), fewer sedentary days per week (RRR: 0.89, 95% CI 0.81–0.99), and higher health-related well-being (RRR: 1.35, 95% CI 1.27–1.44). This study offers a sustainable measure of pre-adolescent children’s health literacy and health behaviours and tracking of CfW impacts. This enables efforts to be tailored to person-centred (understanding children’s health literacy needs), place-based (examining specific organizational health literacy context within schools and CfW design), and policy-focused approaches (re-energizing health literacy within current/emerging policies in Wales including the CfW). |
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| Keywords: |
health literacy, health behaviours, schools, education, curriculum, curriculum for wales, health monitoring |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
This work was supported by Swansea University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Seedcorn Fund 2022/23. |
| Issue: |
2 |
| Start Page: |
daaf026 |