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Relationship between parents' health literacy and children's sleep problems in Japan

Sae Ono1,2, Hiroto Ogi2,3, Masato Ogawa2,4

  • 1Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kobe University School of Medicine, 7-10-2 Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe, 654-0142, Japan.

BMC Public Health
|April 25, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Parents' health literacy (HL) is linked to fewer sleep problems in preschoolers. Improving parental HL may help address children's sleep issues.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Health Literacy Research

Background:

  • Sleep problems in preschoolers can negatively impact health and development.
  • Factors contributing to childhood sleep disturbances require further investigation.
  • This study explored the connection between parental health literacy and preschooler sleep issues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the relationship between parents' health literacy (HL) and children's sleep problems.
  • To identify potential targets for interventions aimed at improving pediatric sleep.
  • To understand how parental HL influences sleep habits in young children.

Main Methods:

  • A multicenter cross-sectional study involving 354 preschoolers and their parents in Japan.
  • Children's sleep problems were assessed using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-J).
  • Parental health literacy was measured using the 14-item Health Literacy Scale (HLS-14), with parents categorized into high and low HL groups.

Main Results:

  • Parents with higher health literacy reported significantly lower scores on the CSHQ-J, indicating fewer sleep problems in their children.
  • Parental HL was independently associated with children's sleep problem scores after adjusting for confounding factors (adjusted R² = 0.22, p = 0.043).
  • A notable percentage of parents (72%) belonged to the high HL group, while 28% were in the low HL group.

Conclusions:

  • Parental health literacy demonstrates a significant influence on the presence and severity of sleep problems in preschool-aged children.
  • Findings suggest that enhancing parents' health literacy could be a viable strategy for improving sleep outcomes in children.
  • This research highlights the importance of parental factors in pediatric sleep health and intervention development.
Abstract

Keywords:
ChildrenHealth literacyParentsPreschoolersSleep problems

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