Low Health Literacy, Lack of Knowledge, and Self-Control Hinder Healthy Lifestyles in Diverse Patients with Steatotic Liver Disease

Introduction: In parallel with the obesity and diabetes epidemics, steatotic liver disease (SLD) has emerged as a major global public health concern. The mainstay of therapy is counseling on weight loss and increased exercise. However, such lifestyle modifications infrequently lead to success. We aimed to identify barriers to diet and lifestyle modification in patients with SLD. Methods: Patients with SLD completed a 14-item questionnaire that assigned barriers to healthy eating to three categories: lack of knowledge, lack of self-control, and lack of time, with a higher summary score indicating more perceived barriers. We administered assessments of health literacy and physical activity. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and ordinal regression analysis. Results: We included 151 participants with a median age of 64; 54% were female and 68.2% were Hispanic. Median BMI was 31.9 kg/m². Most respondents, 68.2%, had low health literacy and were either underactive, 29.1% or sedentary, 23.2%. Lack of self-control was the strongest barrier to achieving a healthy lifestyle, followed by lack of knowledge. Lack of time was not significant barrier. Patients with the most significant barriers were more likely to have obesity, low health literacy, and be sedentary. Discussion: Lack of self-control and knowledge are the greatest barriers to adopting a healthy lifestyle in patients with SLD. Future clinical interventions should integrate education that targets various health literacy levels with behavioral approaches to improve a sense of agency.