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Children might learn more about health promotion from other children, than from their teachers

As children went back to school after the summer holiday, a new entry in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) in The Cochrane Library assesses whether teachers or other young people are better at educating children about health promotion. DARE is prepared by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York in England. It contains structured abstracts for published systematic reviews.

The review described in DARE investigated the effects of health promotion interventions that were delivered to young people by their peers. These included smoking prevention, education about testicular cancer, HIV prevention and the promotion of sexual health. The interventions were delivered in schools, colleges and the community. The review also looked at process evaluations in which the acceptability of the intervention and factors influencing its implementation were studied.

Of nearly 50 outcome evaluations identified, only 12 were judged to be of sufficient quality for the review. The results of these studies were variable and a combined analysis was not performed. Thus, any recommendations in the review had to be based on individual studies but it appears that peer-delivered health promotion is beneficial for both smoking prevention and the promotion of sexual health. Fifteen process evaluations were included. Most young people expressed positive views on the intervention and negative views were rarely documented.

Children do seem to prefer being taught health promotion by other young people and, in some circumstances at least, it does seem to be an effective strategy. However, the main conclusion from this review is that future studies of peer-delivered health promotion need to be better planned, conducted and reported. Further Information

The relevant Cochrane review is: Harden A, Weston R, Oakley A. A review of the effectiveness and appropriateness of peer-delivered health promotion interventions for young people. London: Evaluation of Health Promotion and Social Interventions. 1999. 1-180.

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September 2001

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