Social media use, an unhealthy diet, or physical inactivity. These are just three of the reasons why children and young people have been suffering more frequently from obesity and mental illness in recent years.
Specific health programs are needed to effectively counter this problem. Educational institutions, such as schools and daycare centers, are suitable for promoting health among children and young people. The fit4future project, scientifically supported by Prof. Dr. Filip Mess, Head of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health, aims to enable institutions to independently plan and implement health promotion and prevention activities. The project, which will run from 2022 to 2026, is being funded by DAK-Gesundheit to the tune of over 300,000 euros.
"It is precisely the long-term cooperation within the project that enables us to continuously collect data and incorporate our findings into further development on an ongoing basis - in the sense of a learning project. This makes fit4future very appealing from a scientific perspective," explains Prof. Mess.
The two Research Associates, Katharina Sterr and Simon Blaschke, are jointly responsible for the implementation and effectiveness evaluation of the Germany-wide research project initiated by DAK in 2016 and is now focusing on over 2,000 daycare centers and schools to implement the measures. "The health promotion program covers the four fields of action: exercise, nutrition, mental health, digital media and addiction prevention," explains Sterr. Using a holistic approach, the institutions must be empowered to develop independence in planning and implementing health promotion and prevention activities.
This is to be achieved with the help of various measures, such as workshops, series of lessons, coaching sessions, and digital materials for teaching staff and parents. "The schools and daycare centers have various options and freedom to decide which measures are most suitable for them and which they want to implement," adds Blaschke. Using a fit4future box, i.e. equipment available at the various facilities, active exercise and teaching units can be carried out using skipping ropes or balls, for example.
One of the components in the evaluation of the health promotion program is the fit4future check. Among other things, this digital survey asks about previous experience and needs in health promotion and the health literacy of the respective facilities. This is intended to provide crucial information on the areas in which further development potential exists for the facilities, as well as the adaptations of fit4future.
The fit4future check is then repeated annually. "With the check, we try to map quantitative correlations between health literacy and health promotion at the facilities to assess possible effects of the project. This data is supplemented and combined with focus group interviews and parent surveys on children's health and health behavior to identify explanations as to how and why measures work or don't work," adds Sterr.
"Ultimately, we want to use the fit4future project to promote children's and young people's health and turn schools and daycare centers into health-promoting settings. With the evaluation we are carrying out, we also want to check the effectiveness and see whether the facilities can implement this. This is a major advantage of our project, which we hope we can implement successfully and sustainably," concludes the Research Associate.
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
To the website of the fit4future project
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Filip Mess
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
phone: 089 289 24520
e-mail: filip.mess(at)tum.de
Simon Blaschke
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
phone: 089 289 24529
e-mail: simon.blaschke(at)tum.de
Katharina Sterr
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
e-mail: Katharina.Sterr(at)tum.de
Text: Bastian Daneyko
Photos: Private