www.le.ac.uk/hero

HERO Health Education Reaching Out

Schools Project

GENIEGenetics Education Networking

for Innovation and Excellence

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER · HERO

HERO Schools Project

HERO is a health education programme developed by GENIE Centrefor Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Leicesterand is jointly funded by the National Institute for Health ResearchCollaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care.

HERO aims:

• to educate and inspire people to takeresponsibility for their own health, dietand well-being.

• to promote awareness of the links thatexist between an unhealthy diet, asedentary lifestyle and serious healthproblems in later life.

Schools Project: HERO is working with over 800 youngpeople in three schools to investigate thebest way of getting healthy living messagesacross to young teenagers and helping themto make informed choices about what theyeat and how they exercise.

Specific aims:

To determine the most appropriateand effective way to deliver healthylifestyle education to Year 8 studentswhich will:

• increase knowledge andunderstanding of how diet andexercise can affect long-term health

• encourage behaviour change

We will also investigate any linksbetween student knowledge,attitude and behaviour: do studentsshowing the greatest change inknowledge also show greaterbehavioural change?

Cover picture courtesy of Carl Warner.

environments [9], but other evidencesuggests they may learn better in theclassroom [10]. Indeed, healtheducation by trained teachers isbelieved to be effective [8] but thereare also suggestions that classroom-based delivery by external research orother trained staff may have a greaterimpact [10]. HERO aims to comparedifferent approaches to delivering thesame information, based on ourexperience of schools outreach.

Background:

Poor eating (over-eating, under-eatingand bad food choice) is prevalent inteenagers [1, 2] and is associated withan increased risk of obesity, chronicdisease and difficulty concentrating inschool [2, 3]. Sometimes there isconfusion about what is healthy andsome teenagers just don’t care whatthey eat [4]. Personalised andeffective programmes that addressattitude and behaviour as well asknowledge are needed.

Schools have long been venues forhealth promotion initiatives for boththeoretical and practical reasons [5].Many studies looking at the healthoutcomes of interventions in schoolshave been conducted (reviewed in [6-8] and others) but few havecompared different approachesdirectly. Some evidence suggestsstudents may learn better in new

HERO · UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

Methodology:

Using experience gained through schools outreach events, HERO has designedcurriculum-linked, interactive activities to help students look at their own eating andactivity habits. These activities have been delivered by GENIE outreach experts andstaff from the University both at university-based workshops and in the classroom. School teachers were also provided with subject-specific knowledge and resources tohelp them plan and deliver their own healthy living lessons. The three differentapproaches are being evaluated to assess changes in students’ knowledge,understanding and attitude (Figure 1). The effectiveness and ease of delivery of eachapproach is also being investigated with the aim of producing resources for wider use.

1. Outreach event atUniversity

• Delivered by HEROteam

• Activity-based healtheducation

2. Outreach at school

• Delivered by HEROteam

• Modified versions ofuniversity outreachevent

3. Teacher workshopsat University

• Workshops deliveredby HERO team

• Teacher-plannedlessons delivered inschool

Post-interventionassessment

Follow-up assessmentat 6 months (end of

academic year)

Pre-interventionassessment

Figure 1: Flow chart summarising the schools project research methodology.In addition to student assessment data, feedback is also collected from Universityand school staff through teaching, activity and workshop evaluations.

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER · HERO

Physical Education curriculums throughthe knowledge content and emphasison making informed choices.

Project outcomes:

The project’s findings will be sharedthrough the production of reports forlocal authorities, schools, educationalistsand health professionals.

Additional possible outcomes:

1. Methodology to further investigatesuccessful approaches.

2. Potential application of mostefficient and effective approach toother subjects.

3. Production of teachingpacks/resources for teachers

4. Sharing of resources online.

5. Development of teacher workshopsand Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment for teachers/schools.

6. Increased partnership with schools.

Examples of our curriculum-embedded activities:

What’s a good breakfast?Students compare the sugar, protein andfibre content of different cereals andconsider whether they should changetheir own breakfast.

Junk food and exerciseStudents use an exercise bike to burn offthe caloric equivalent of a few sweets.

Snack attack!Students discover how much sugar andfat is in their typical day’s worth of theirown snacks by reading labels andweighing out the totals.

Being active – are you heart healthy?Students use pulse-taking watches tomonitor heart rate after aerobic activity togive an indication of their heart health.

Activities are related to the Year 8 Science,Personal, Social and Health Education(PSHE), Design and Technology, and

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What you can do:

Look out for our interim report inlate 2011 and final report in 2013.

Let us know your thoughts andfeedback on the project or if youwould like further information.

GENIE (Genetics Education Networkingfor Innovation and Excellence) is theUK's Centre for Excellence in Teachingand Learning in Genetics. GENIE isbased within the Department ofGenetics at the University of Leicester,which is internationally recognised forits pioneering, revolutionary researchand dynamic teaching by academics atthe cutting edge of their discipline.

The National Institute of Health ResearchCollaboration for Leadership in AppliedHealth Research and Care –Leicestershire, Northamptonshire andRutland (NIHR CLAHRC-LNR) facilitates aunique collaboration between NHS Trustsand principle universities in the region.HERO is part of a programme to ensurethat lessons learnt from research studiesare rapidly and effectively implemented.

Contact details:

Dr Joanne Singletary,HERO Research AssistantE: jhs10@le.ac.uk · T: 0116 252 3405

GENIE CETL, Department of Genetics,University of Leicester, University Road,Leicester, LE1 7RH

References:1. Brooks, F., et al., Young People’s Health in Great Britain and Ireland: Findings from the Health Behaviour in School-AgedChildren (HBSC) Survey, 2006. 2009, WHO: Cardiff, Edinburgh, Galway, Hertfordshire; 2. Kirby, J. and C. Currie, HBSCBriefing paper 17: Nutrition and Health among young people in Scotland. 2010, Child and Adolescent Health ResearchUnit, The University of Edinburgh; 3. Rampersaud, G.C., et al., Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, andacademic performance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2005. 105(5): p. 743-760; 4. Craig, R. and N. Shelton, Health Survey for England 2007: Healthy lifestyles: knowledge, attitudes and behaviour.2008, The NHS Information Centre: London; 5. Stewart-Brown, S., Evaluating health promotion in schools: reflections, inEvaluation in health promotion: Principles and perspectives, I. Rootman, et al., Editors. 2001, WHO Regional Publications.p. 271-284; 6. Summerbell, C.D., et al., Interventions for preventing obesity in children. Cochrane Database SystematicReview, 2005(3): p. CD001871; 7. NICE, Obesity: Guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment andmanagement of overweight and obesity in adults and children. 2006: London; 8. WHO, Interventions on diet and physicalactivity: what works: summary report. 2009, World Health Organisation: Geneva; 9. Rennie, L.J., et al., Toward an agendafor advancing research on science learning in out-of-school settings. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2003. 40(2):p. 112-120; 10. Birnbaum, A.S., et al., Are differences in exposure to a multicomponent school-based interventionassociated with varying dietary outcomes in adolescents? Health Education and Behavior, 2002. 29(4): p. 427-443.

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