Exploring Cross-Sectional Relationships between Health Literacy, Dietary Intake, Physical Activity, and Anthropometric/Biological Variables among Residents in Southwest Virginia

BACKGROUND: Low health literacy and numeracy are significant problems facing the United States. Recent research focuses heavily on the role health literacy and numeracy play in perception of disease risk, health care costs, all-cause mortality, and access to care; however, there has been relativity little emphasis on the relationships between health literacy or numeracy with health promotion behaviors, such as nutrition or physical activity. As our nation continues to face challenges with the high prevalence of obesity and other chronic diseases, it is increasingly important to understand the role that health literacy and numeracy play in nutrition and physical activity behaviors, as well as in the prevalence and control of chronic disease. PRIMARY AIMS: The proposed research is embedded within a larger randomized-control trial, Talking Health, which is a 2-arm behavioral trial targeting residents in eight counties in southwest Virginia with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption as the primary outcome. The primary aims of this cross-sectional study, using baseline Talking Health data, are to 1) examine correlations among health literacy and numeracy measures, namely the Newest Vital Sign (NVS), separated by reading (NVS Reading) and math (NVS Math) scores, the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), and the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS); 2) explore the relationships between demographic factors and the NVS, REALM, and SNS scores; 3) determine the relationships between the NVS, REALM, and SNS and dietary quality [i.e. Health Eating Index (HEI) scores], physical activity behaviors, and anthropometric and biological variables (body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood lipids, and fasting blood glucose); and 4) determine if NVS, REALM, and SNS scores predict metabolic syndrome (MetS), while controlling for relevant demographic factors. METHODS: Eligibility requirements for the study include being 18 years of age or older, having reliable access to a telephone, drinking 200 kilocalories of ...