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This article presents the findings of a study on the health information literacy of students at the University of Namibia main campus. The study was conducted between 2013 and 2014 and consisted of two hundred and seventy one (271) participants aged between 17-19 years old. The quantitative study used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data. The findings show that the majority of the respondents strongly believed that health information is important and they were able to seek health information. They also strongly agreed that they knew where to seek health information and they liked to get health information from a variety of sources. The respondents indicated that they were more comfortable getting information from the Internet than print sources. A gap in health information literacy was revealed by the fact that the respondents found it difficult to know who to believe in health issues, suggesting difficulties in critically evaluating the health information and sources. The study concludes that although UNAM students appeared knowledgeable in some health information issues, there are some gaps which need to be addressed. The study therefore recommends Kickbusch's (2008) three way intervention strategy which com prises of culture and society, health and education systems to address the existing gaps in health information literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity leads to reduced lifer expectancy, increased likelihood of a wide range of diseases Obesity also lowers self-esteem and has negative consequences on the cognitive and social development of a person. World-wide, obesity is a leading yet preventable cause of death and its prevalence both in children and adults is increasing day by day. Compared to men, women have a relatively higher burden of disease attributable to overweight and obesity. This paper establishes the socio-economic factors influencing obesity in women in Namibia using logistic regression. The outcome variable was Obesity (1 for Obese, 0 for Not obese). The independent variables included the total number of children ever born to the woman, her place of residence; current age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, age of the woman at first birth, place of residence, region, and religion. Results indicate that in Namibia, obesity of a woman is associated with the age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, and the age of the woman at first birth. Policy and intervention programs to reduce obesity should focus on encouraging women to delay onset of child-bearing, to embark on lifelong regular exercise and diet programs. Even though smoking was inversely related to obesity, women should be encouraged to stop smoking because of its other devastating health eff ects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]