Health Literacy Intervention: Measuring Information Literacy Skills Related to Obesity

Abstract

This was a study of the effectiveness of a health literacy intervention to empower parents to use an easy-to-read book to help their families live a healthier lifestyle. Parents (n = 26) received copies of a book called What to Do When Your Child is Heavy and completed a 45-minute program to go along with the book. The program consisted of a presentation of the book and an information literacy activity in the form of a bingo game with the help of the trainer. This allowed participants to practice using the book to answer health-related questions. After the bingo game, the parents were given a post-test with different scenarios to allow them to practice finding information in the book on their own. The outcome measures included information literacy skill accuracy and participant engagement. Data showed that accuracy on the bingo game was high. For information literacy skills, results indicated that accuracy was significantly higher than the hypothesized mean of 50%. This means that participants are capable of looking up information in the book to help them with diet and weight management for their family.