Does mothers’ health literacy affect their children’s quality of life?

Abstract

Introduction: Health literacy is considered as an important element in ability of women’s to engage in health promotion and preventive activities for yourself and their children. Therfore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between health literacy of female-headed households with their children’s quality of life. Materials and Methods: In the descriptive cross-sectional study 149 female-headed households covered by State Welfare Organization and Immam Khomeini Relief Foundation in the Nourabad city (Iran) in 2016 were selected by census method. We applied demographic check list, Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) and Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) for data collection. Results: The results showed that women health literacy with mean of 43.42 ±17.85 was in poor condition (89.3 percent of them had inadequate and marginal health literacy). Similarly, their children’s quality of life with mean of 65.89±11.27 was in moderate condition. In addition, results showed a positive relationship between health literacy of female and their children’s quality of life (p