Effectiveness of the Health Literacy Promotion Program on Health Behaviors and Health Outcomes among Pre-aging Individuals with Overweight and Obesity

Introduction According to the existing studies, there are relatively few studies about the effectiveness of the health literacy promotion program on health behaviours and health outcomes among pre-aging individuals with overweight and obesity. According to the aforementioned problems and reviewed data, this study aimed to address the need for accessible health knowledge. Particularly, older adults with obesity should aim to lose weight and prevent chronic diseases caused by obesity, thereby preparing them to handle age-related health conditions. Methods This study employed a pretest-posttest Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) conducted between February and June 2024 among pre-aging individuals with overweight and obesity in Thailand. The total sample size was 136 (the control arm had 68 samples, the experimental arm had 68 samples). Results The study assessed the health behaviors and outcomes of an older adult group with overweight and obesity, following their participation in a health literacy development program. Post-intervention, the experimental arm exhibited significantly higher health literacy scores ( p < 0.001) and health behavior scores related to overweight and obesity ( p < 0.001) compared to the control arm. Furthermore, the overall health outcomes of the experimental arm were also significantly better than those of the control arm (p-values ranging from 0.001 to 0.004). Discussion This study shows that a health literacy promotion program can significantly improve health behaviors and outcomes in pre-aging individuals with overweight and obesity. Compared to the control arm, participants in the experimental arm received better clinical scores and effectively improved their own health conditions, indicating that the program is conducive to promoting a healthy lifestyle and preparing for aging. Conclusions These findings provide evidence to support the health literacy concepts as guidelines for developing a health-promoting program for the pre-aging group with overweight and obesity.