Soósné Kiss Zs, Vitrai J, Takács J, Lukács J Á, Falus A, Feith H J
Széchenyi István University, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences Department of Preventive Health Sciences, Győr, Hungary.
Semmelweis University, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Heliyon. 2024 Feb 23;10(5):e26769. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26769. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.
Although it is widely recognized that more attention needs to be paid to children's fluid intake, there is little information on how to improve it. Peer education has been suggested as an effective approach to changing health behaviors among school children. As a new approach, our study piloted a peer education program to improve children's fluid intake in primary schools.
University students were prepared for their role as peer educators in an elective university course, including the concept of peer education and different pedagogical methods. The peer educators evaluated the training process by completing a questionnaire. The intervention took place during a School Health Day led by the peer educators. An anonymous survey with a questionnaire on knowledge of fluid intake was administered two weeks before, at the end of, and 15 weeks after the intervention. Changes in hydration knowledge were tested using repeated measures ANOVA.
The pilot program showed increased knowledge about fluid consumption (p < 0.001) in lower and upper primary school children (N = 326) at the end of the School Health Day compared to pre-intervention measures. A positive change was observed after 15 weeks only in upper primary students. Feedback from peer educators was useful for fine-tuning the program.
This innovative program induced positive changes in knowledge about fluid intake in primary school children. The persistence of the changes differed between lower and upper primary school children. Based on the results, the intervention should be replicated to adapt the program to the needs of lower primary school children. Because the training of peer educators and the peer education program appeared to be successful, this program is worthy of international replication. This approach may also be suggested for other behavior change issues.
尽管人们普遍认识到需要更加关注儿童的液体摄入量，但关于如何改善这一情况的信息却很少。同伴教育被认为是改变在校儿童健康行为的一种有效方法。作为一种新方法，我们的研究试点了一项同伴教育计划，以提高小学儿童的液体摄入量。
大学生在一门选修大学课程中为担任同伴教育者的角色做准备，包括同伴教育的概念和不同的教学方法。同伴教育者通过填写问卷来评估培训过程。干预在由同伴教育者主导的学校健康日期间进行。在干预前两周、干预结束时以及干预后15周，进行了一项关于液体摄入知识的匿名问卷调查。使用重复测量方差分析来测试水合知识的变化。
与干预前的测量结果相比，试点计划显示在学校健康日结束时，小学低年级和高年级儿童（N = 326）关于液体摄入的知识有所增加（p < 0.001）。仅在高年级学生中，15周后观察到了积极的变化。同伴教育者的反馈有助于对该计划进行微调。
这个创新计划在小学儿童关于液体摄入的知识方面引发了积极的变化。小学低年级和高年级儿童的变化持续性有所不同。基于这些结果，应重复进行干预，以使该计划适应小学低年级儿童的需求。由于同伴教育者的培训和同伴教育计划似乎很成功，该计划值得在国际上推广。这种方法也可能适用于其他行为改变问题。
