The negative association between health status and digital health literacy among Chinese youth: a cross-sectional study on Chinese general social survey

This reverse relationship reveals new characteristics of Chinese youth's health behavior in the digital age. That is the lower health status, the higher their digital health literacy, which forms a causal paradox. Heterogeneity analysis shows that digital inequality still exists among Chinese youth. Therefore, it is recommended that youth pay attention to the combination of physical exercise and digital health literacy in daily health management, enhance their ability to obtain, understand, and apply health information, and achieve sustainable health improvement.