Health Literacy

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between health literacy and high-risk behaviors with respect to the mediating role of positive adolescent development among students in West Azerbaijan province. Methodology: The research method was descriptive-correlational modeling of structural equations. The statistical population of this study was all high school girls and boys in West Azerbaijan province with the age range of 11 to 18 years who were studying in the 2019-20 academic year. 560 people were selected from the statistical sample by cluster random sampling as a research sample. Research scales were Iranian Adolescents Risk Scale (Zade محمدi, احمدabadi, Heidari, 2011), Adolescent Positive Development Scale (Geldhof, et al, 2014), Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (Ghanbari, Ramezankhani, Mehrabi, Montazeri, 2015). Structural equation modeling and AMOS software were used to investigate the causal relationships between the variables of the present study. Findings: The findings of the present study showed that there was a significant direct relationship between health literacy and tendency to high-risk behaviors in adolescents (p <0.05). There was also a significant direct relationship between health literacy and adolescent positive development in adolescents (p <0.05). There was a significant indirect relationship between health literacy and tendency to high-risk behaviors mediated by positive adolescent development (p <0.05). Conclusion: Health literacy and positive development of adolescence reduces risky behaviors among adolescents. Accordingly, health literacy by providing cognitive resources, positive adolescent development by improving the processing of cognitive processes related to health and the growth of health resources and opportunities, causes Adolescents become less prone to risky behaviors.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise combined with health literacy training on liver fat grade and body mass index in sedentary middle-aged men. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was a pretest-posttest with a control group.  22 sedentary middle-aged man with a liver grade higher than 1 were purposefully selected and randomly divided into intervention (n = 11) and control (n = 11) groups. The subjects in the intervention group participated in the exercise training protocol for 8 weeks along with the health literacy training program, the control group did not have any intervention. Data were collected through liver ultrasound, blood sampling and body mass index measurement before and after the intervention and analyzed using ANCOVA test and SPSS20 software. Results: The results showed that exercise along with health literacy training improves liver fat content and reduces body mass index in the experimental group compared to the control group (P <0% 5). Conclusion: This study showed that performing two interventions of exercise and health literacy simultaneously is effective in improving the fat content of the liver and body mass index of sedentary middle-aged men and prevents the development of advanced fatty liver.

Background: Physical education (PE) plays a crucial role in fostering an enjoyment of physical activity (PA) and developing physical literacy in students. This, in turn, contributes to lifelong health and well-being. Aim: The study explored the association between teachers’ perceived physical literacy, students' enjoyment of PA, and physical literacy. This was done by investigating the mediating role of teachers' self-efficacy in teaching PE. Materials and Methods: The sample included 40 physical education teachers and 100 students in 7 to 9 grades of secondary education, totaling 140 participants. The teachers completed the Physical Education Teachers' Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument (PPLI) and Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES). In contrast, the students completed the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and Adolescent Physical Literacy Questionnaire (APLQ). Results The results from the structural equation modeling confirmed the model's fit and showed that teachers’ perceived physical literacy and self-efficacy have a direct and positive relationship with students' enjoyment of PA and physical literacy. Additionally, teachers' self-efficacy indirectly mediated the relationship between teachers’ perceived physical literacy and students' enjoyment of PA and physical literacy. Conclusion: The results underscore the importance of teachers' perceived physical literacy in fostering positive student outcomes concerning PA by mediating the role of teaching self-efficacy.