The Mediating Role of Attitude To Physical Activity in the Relationship Between E-Health Literacy and Obesity Awareness

Background: The study aims to examine the mediating role of physical activity attitudes in the relationship between university students' e-health literacy levels and obesity awareness. Methodology: The study was designed with a relational research model, one of the quantitative research methods. A total of 333 university students, 159 males and 174 females, participated in the study. Pearson correlation analysis was applied to examine the relationship between e-health literacy, obesity awareness, and physical activity attitudes. In the study, e-health literacy was employed as the independent variable; obesity awareness was used as the dependent variable, and positive and negative attitudes toward physical activity were used as the mediating variables. The bias-corrected bootstrapping 5000 method was employed to ascertain the significance of the mediating variable, with the lower and upper limit intervals being checked to ensure that no zero values were present. Results: The mediating effect of positive physical activity attitudes between e-health literacy and obesity awareness was found to be positive and significant (β=0.0112, t=4.259, p=<.001, CI=[0.060-0.163]. The mediating effect of negative attitudes toward physical activity between e-health literacy and obesity awareness was insignificant (β=0.0162, t=0.913, p=0.361, CI=[-0.018-0.049]). A predictive effect of e-health literacy and physical activity attitudes on obesity awareness was identified, with a value of 57%. The study revealed that e-health literacy accounted for 25% of the negative attitudes toward physical activity and 42% of the positive attitudes toward physical activity. Ethics approval number: Date: 13/02/2024, session no: 03 Decision: 03.14 Conclusion: The study has demonstrated a correlation between e-health literacy and obesity awareness. As e-health literacy levels increase, so too does obesity awareness. On the other side, the current study found a positive and significant relationship between e-health literacy and positive attitudes toward physical activity. It was ultimately determined that positive attitudes toward physical activity had a mediating effect on the relationship between e-health literacy and obesity awareness.