Kids' health habits can be improved in a week - and this SA study proves it

It may only take a week of interactive classes and games during school to improve youth health in SA.

A new study,  conducted in this country by the University of Pennsylvania, found that a carefully designed week-long health intervention for grade 6 pupils led to healthier eating and exercise habits for at least four-and-a-half years afterwards.

"The results of the study are impressive," said John Jemmott, lead author of the final research report, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Students in various primary schools were given 12-hour classes dedicated to different health issues and topics, which used games like "health jeopardy" to keep them engaged. The periods took place over six days during the pupils' regularly scheduled extracurricular classes.

The pupils self-reported their habits with questionnaires after the course was completed, and data showed that those who participated in the module had greater chances of healthy eating and taking up physical activity than pupils in the control group - even more than four years later.

The programme was designed specifically with SA in mind, especially as non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes continue to rise.

"We spent years developing the intervention before launching the study," said Jemmott. "We conducted a series of focus groups with local South Africans to ensure we created something culturally relevant.

"It was also important to us that the intervention be conducted in isiXhosa."

Pupils not only reported better health behaviours, but actively wanted to participate in the study.

The programme was so popular that some schools were not able to accommodate all requests for participation. More than 1,000 children from 18 schools ended up voluntarily participating in the study, with parental permission.

The study was able to keep its participation rate above 90%, even during the final check-in mark years later.

"I've never had attendance rates and return rates for data collection as high as this study," said Jemmott. "I’d like to see additional research to better understand how we encourage healthy behaviour."