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)