Pregnancy Weight Management Health Literacy Questionnaire

Worldwide obesity has continued to increase over the past decades. Among the adult women, the overweight and obesity rates in Taiwan are much higher than that of women in nearby Asian countries. In particular, the body mass index of women with low health literacy exceeds the normal range before pregnancy. Without proper supervision, the increase in body weight during pregnancy may result in multiple maternal complications, affect the newborn's health, and increase unnecessary medical expenses in Taiwan's health care system. Thus, assessing pregnant women' s health literacy to manage their body weight is of importance. However, currently, there is no appropriate instrument available in Taiwan to assist health practitioners in assessing the health literacy of pregnant women for weight management. The aim of the study is to develop an instrument to measure the health literacy regarding weight management of pregnant women and examine its psychometric properties.