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The relationship between alexithymia, health literacy, and diet quality in obese adolescents

  • Rukiye Bozbulut ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Azime Şebnem Soysal Acar , Esra Döğer , Mahmut Orhun Çamurdan and Aysun Bideci
Published/Copyright: January 3, 2023
Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 36 Issue 2

Abstract

Objectives

Alexithymia and low health literacy are the barriers of self-management. This study aims to examine the relationship between alexithymia, health literacy and diet quality in obese adolescents, and their effects on anthropometric and biochemical markers.

Methods

The 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) was used to determine the alexithymic traits of the adolescents, and “The Newest Vital Sign” (NVS) scales were used to determine their health literacy levels. Diet quality was evaluated with the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010).

Results

39.7% of the obese adolescents were alexithymic, and 69.4% of alexithymics and 35.1% of non-alexithymics had metabolic syndrome. Alexithymic adolescents were lack of adequate health literacy. There were positive correlations between alexithymia scores and insulin, triglyceride, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels, and all anthropometric values except height (p<0.05). There was a negative correlation between alexithymia scores and health literacy scores (p<0.05). There were negative correlations between health literacy and alexithymia scores, insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, ALT, systolic, diastolic blood pressure levels and all anthropometric values except height, and positive correlation was observed between health literacy scores and diet quality (p<0.05). Total HEI score was negatively correlated with waist circumference, neck circumference, body weight, BMI, triglyceride, AST, ALT, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and positively correlated with health literacy and HDL levels (p<0.05).

Conclusions

As alexithymia severity increased in obese adolescents, the degree of obesity and the incidence of metabolic syndrome increased while the level of health literacy decreased. The increase in health literacy levels, on the other hand, decreased the level of alexithymia and increased the quality of the diet.

Keywords: adolescent; alexithymia; diet quality; health-literacy; obesity
Corresponding author: Rukiye Bozbulut, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Gazi University, Beşevler, Ankara, Türkiye, Phone: +903122026033, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We thank all of the participants who devoted their time to participating in this sudy. They are warmly acknowledged for their helpful and whole-hearted cooperation.

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: Approval was obtained from the Gazi University Ethics Committee (with approval number: 35.27.02.2017).

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Received: 2022-08-12
Accepted: 2022-12-05
Published Online: 2023-01-03
Published in Print: 2023-02-23

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

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  2. Review
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  4. Original Articles
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  7. Elevated amylase and lipase levels in patients with DKA followed in the pediatric intensive care unit
  8. The relationship between alexithymia, health literacy, and diet quality in obese adolescents
  9. The role of the deficiency of vitamin B12 and folic acid on homocysteinemia in children with Turner syndrome
  10. Clinical spectrum and diagnostic challenges of vitamin D dependent rickets type 1A (VDDR1A) caused by CYP27B1 mutation in resource limited countries
  11. Comparative characteristics of developing morphofunctional features of schoolchildren from different climatic and geographical regions
  12. Leucine tolerance in children with MSUD is not correlated with plasma leucine levels at diagnosis
  13. Outcomes of children with severe diabetic ketoacidosis managed outside of a pediatric intensive care unit
  14. Thiamine status during treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in children – tertiary care centre experience
  15. Premature adrenarche in Prader–Willi syndrome is associated with accelerated pre-pubertal growth and advanced bone age
  16. Short Communication
  17. Diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency in children: a survey among pediatric endocrinologists in North America
  18. Case Reports
  19. Pediatric growth hormone and prolactin-secreting tumor associated with an AIP mutation and a MEN1 variant of uncertain significance
  20. Two cases of MEGDHEL syndrome diagnosed with hyperammonemia
  21. Hyperinsulinism–hyperammonemia syndrome in two Peruvian children with refractory epilepsy
  22. A case report of a young boy with low renin and high aldosterone levels induced by Liddle syndrome who was previously misdiagnosed with primary aldosteronism
  23. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes vs. hybrid closed loop systems: a case series of patients’ behaviour that challenges the algorithm.
https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2022-0405
Keywords for this article
adolescent; alexithymia; diet quality; health-literacy; obesity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review
  3. One half-century of advances in the evaluation and management of disorders of bone and mineral metabolism in children and adolescents
  4. Original Articles
  5. Safety and user experience with off-label use of a flash glucose monitor (FreeStyle Libre® 1) among very young children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
  6. Sonic hedgehog N-terminal level correlates with adiponectin level and insulin resistance in adolescents
  7. Elevated amylase and lipase levels in patients with DKA followed in the pediatric intensive care unit
  8. The relationship between alexithymia, health literacy, and diet quality in obese adolescents
  9. The role of the deficiency of vitamin B12 and folic acid on homocysteinemia in children with Turner syndrome
  10. Clinical spectrum and diagnostic challenges of vitamin D dependent rickets type 1A (VDDR1A) caused by CYP27B1 mutation in resource limited countries
  11. Comparative characteristics of developing morphofunctional features of schoolchildren from different climatic and geographical regions
  12. Leucine tolerance in children with MSUD is not correlated with plasma leucine levels at diagnosis
  13. Outcomes of children with severe diabetic ketoacidosis managed outside of a pediatric intensive care unit
  14. Thiamine status during treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in children – tertiary care centre experience
  15. Premature adrenarche in Prader–Willi syndrome is associated with accelerated pre-pubertal growth and advanced bone age
  16. Short Communication
  17. Diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency in children: a survey among pediatric endocrinologists in North America
  18. Case Reports
  19. Pediatric growth hormone and prolactin-secreting tumor associated with an AIP mutation and a MEN1 variant of uncertain significance
  20. Two cases of MEGDHEL syndrome diagnosed with hyperammonemia
  21. Hyperinsulinism–hyperammonemia syndrome in two Peruvian children with refractory epilepsy
  22. A case report of a young boy with low renin and high aldosterone levels induced by Liddle syndrome who was previously misdiagnosed with primary aldosteronism
  23. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes vs. hybrid closed loop systems: a case series of patients’ behaviour that challenges the algorithm.
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