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.