Relationship Between Fundamental Daily Living Habits and Health Literacy Exhibited by Self-Care Behavior in Sixth-Grade Students of Japanese Elementary Schools

Background: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between fundamental daily living habits and health literacy exhibited by self-care behaviour in sixth-grade students in Japanese elementary schools by verifying the association of actual status of fundamental daily living habits with awareness of behavioural and health contingencies and healthy behavioural choices. Methods: In this study, a cross-sectional survey was undertaken with 287 sixth-grade students in Japanese elementary school. The questionnaire consisted of three elements of status of basic lifestyle habits, behavioural and health contingencies, and healthy behavioural choices. Results: These results indicate that while fundamental daily living habits are formed by including behavioural and health contingencies, the association of awareness of contingencies and behavioural choices with their actual status is not clear. It is found that during childhood, there is a risk of interruption in the awareness about the acquired behaviours and health contingencies, and it is evident that sustaining such awareness is necessary. Conclusions: This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because there are very few studies on children’s fundamental daily living habits from a health literacy viewpoint and it is not clear whether the fundamental daily living habits are associated with self-care ability as health literacy.