Health literacy and health awareness among secondary school students – questionnaire survey

In the spring of 2026 the MTA–ELTE TK School and Health Research Group conducted a questionnaire survey among 734 secondary school students on their health literacy and health awareness. The overview below presents the results in ten topics: which recommended and which best-avoided foods students consume, what they know about foods – particularly about quality sources of nutrients – how well informed they are about dietary questions and how far they are able to turn this knowledge into everyday decisions, whom they follow online for content on nutrition and physical activity, how they see their own bodies, what their physical activity is like, what role the school and teachers play in their health promotion, and how they feel in everyday life.

Open the interactive overview in a new tab – you can move between the topics by clicking on the table of contents. (In Hungarian)

Downloadable version: Research findings (PDF, in Hungarian)

 

Health literacy and social disparities among school-aged children – scoping review

Health literacy is one of the key determinants of health during childhood and adolescence, yet evidence on how sociodemographic and environmental factors shape it, and how they contribute to health inequalities in younger populations, remains fragmented in the literature. Our research group’s scoping review maps this evidence for school-aged children in developed countries. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, three databases – PubMed, ERIC and Web of Science – were searched for English-language studies published between 2000 and 2026; after screening the 2 640 records identified, 52 studies were included and qualitatively synthesized using the PROGRESS-Plus equity framework.

Our synthesis reveals that health literacy is strongly patterned by social stratification, showing the most consistent associations with socioeconomic status, age and gender. Gender differences follow domain-specific patterns: girls scored higher in general and mental health literacy, boys in the digital and physical domains. Higher health literacy was linked to more favourable health behaviours and better subjective health. Addressing these early inequalities requires targeted public health and educational interventions that directly tackle specific demographic and contextual disparities. Building on these findings, the review offers practical guidance for teachers and recommendations for educational institutions.

Downloadable version: Mapping health literacy and social disparities in school-aged children through the PROGRESS-Plus framework (PDF, in Hungarian)

 

School environment and social inequalities in adolescents’ eating habits – Hungarian trends 2002–2018

Adolescents’ diet plays a key role in their present and future health. Drawing on the Hungarian data of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey from five waves between 2002 and 2018 (23 816 students aged 11–15), our research group examined how family social background, the school environment and broader social changes shape young people’s eating habits. The analysis follows four indicators – daily fruit, vegetable, sweets and sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption –, compares Hungarian trends with the other Visegrád countries and the European average, and uses age–period–cohort analysis and two-level hierarchical logistic regression models to assess the joint effect of family and school factors.

Fruit and vegetable consumption improved until 2014 but stagnated by 2018, while the consumption of sweets and sugary soft drinks declined over the period as a whole, although Hungarian adolescents still drink sugary soft drinks considerably more often than their European peers. Health-protective habits are linked primarily to family social background, whereas health-risk habits are shaped more by the school environment: schools with high social deprivation can act as universal risk environments, and by 2018 daily soft drink consumption had become increasingly concentrated among socially disadvantaged students. The overview closes with practical recommendations for education and health policy actors.

Downloadable version: The role of the school environment and social inequalities in adolescents’ eating habits (PDF, in Hungarian)