Parental health literacy of 4-6 years old children in some districts of Shanghai

ObjectiveTo ascertain the status and influencing factors for parental health literacy of children aged 4-6 years in Shanghai, and to provide scientific basis for targeted interventions.

MethodsA self-developed and validated questionnaire was administered to investigate the status of caregivers of children 4-6 years old.Through stratified random sampling, 863 participants were recruited from eight districts of Shanghai.

ResultsThe average score of parental health literacy children 4-6 years old was 76.71±9.50.The proportion of caregivers who had adequate health literacy was 40.4% with 80 as the threshold.In the three domains of health care, disease prevention and health promotion, the proportion of children′s caregivers who had adequate health literacy was 37.2%, 57.2%, and 16.3%, respectively.The results showed that the relationship between participants and children, education level, children′s household registration, the only child or not, and the family income were the main factors associated with parental health literacy scores for children 4 to 6 years old.

ConclusionParental health literacy for children 4 to 6 years old in Shanghai remains to be improved.Health education should be further strengthened for caregivers of children 4 to 6 years old in Shanghai, especially for fathers, grandparents, and those with low education, or those with non-resident children in the city, then better promoting children′s health.