title: Implications of literacy for health for body mass index.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Literacy for health (LH) may be considered a set of skills that people appropriate, understand, evaluate and use information and knowledge of health to make informed choices, reduce risks to their health, maintain a healthy nutritional status and enhance quality of life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the level of literacy for health; analyse the relationship of socio-demographic variables with LH; to classify the Body Mass Index (BMI) and to determine the effect of LH on BMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  a quantitative study with a descriptive and cross-sectional approach conducted in the centre and north of Portugal. Particnipants: a non-probabilistic sample of 508 Portuguese participants with a mean age 44.48 years (SD = 21 years).
  LH was assessed by the European Questionnaire on Literacy for Health (LHS-EU-PT) validated in Portuguese by Saboga-Nunes and Sorensen (2013) and BMI classification followed the WHO reference accepted by Portugal, DGS (2013).
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that overall, 73.62% of the participants have an inappropriate and problematic level of literacy for health; this was significantly lower in women (P=.000). Participants with inadequate LH, are those with higher BMI (χ(2)=78.09; P=.000), so are at risk of a sub-optimal state of health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest a significant relationship between the LH and BMI. It is found that, the better the LH, the more appropriate is the BMI. This evidence reinforces the importance of promoting literacy for health to the Portuguese population.
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal. Electronic address: madalenacunhanunes@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Madalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaspar
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal.
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde de Viseu, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nunes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mass index; Literacy for health