Volume 37, Issue 6, December 2022

Schools are an important setting for promoting children’s food literacy (FL). The aim of this study was to examine the promotion of FL in classrooms participating in the HealthLit4Kids programme. Teachers implemented classroom activities addressing FL across five Australian primary schools participating in the programme over a 12-month period. Lesson plans devised by teachers and student artefacts were analysed using Nutbeam’s model of health literacy and Truman’s domains of FL. Integration of other curriculum areas, particularly English and The Arts, was observed in most classroom activities. All classroom activities addressed functional FL (n= 26, 100%) and most addressed interactive FL (n= 24, 92%), whereas comparatively fewer addressed critical FL (n= 12, 46%). Food/health choices (n= 26, 100%), knowledge (n= 25, 96%), and skills and behaviour (n= 21, 81%) domains of FL were considered more frequently compared with food systems (n= 17, 65%), emotions (n= 16, 62%), and culture (n= 12, 46%). FL promotion in classrooms was supported by cross-curriculum integration and composite use of lesson plans and artefact data may overcome some limitations of existing tools. Comparatively fewer activities addressed critical FL, or emotional and cultural domains of FL. Further studies are required to understand the promotion FL in the classroom and beyond.

Comics can be an effective tool to communicate health information and appeal to behavior change. The aim of this project, undertaken by a multidisciplinary team, was to develop a comic to raise awareness about non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and promote healthy lifestyles regarding dietary practices and regular physical activity patterns. We focused on the ability of comics in portraying abstract concepts to articulate NAFLD biomedical knowledge and use it as an encouragement/empowerment strategy towards disease-related beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviors. Formative research by means of a NAFLD awareness study with T2DM patients informed the selection of biomedical content and the design of characters and storylines on which the former was embedded. Mindful of graphic narrative and storytelling as a valuable tool in the domains of health promotion, disease prevention and therapeutic adherence, this work discusses the decisions that were taken for the materialization of the comic ‘A healthy liver will always deliver!’.