Swedish schoolchildren's voices of health-promoting factors: a focus group study

Health Promot Int. 2023 Aug 1;38(4):daab176. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daab176.

Abstract

Children have the right to express their views on all issues related to their health and development. The aim was to explore health-promoting factors voiced by 8- to 12-year-old children, to determine how the children prioritize those factors and inform school personnel how to develop health-promoting approach based on those findings. Focus groups, with the use of photographs, were conducted with 15 children. A deductive content analysis was used, with overall results showing that health-promoting factors are meaningful relationships and recreational activities. The results add new perspectives to the earlier model of health-promoting factors. By highlighting children's experience of what promotes health, measures at the individual, group and community level can be adapted to children's priorities, based on their own needs.

Keywords: Bronfenbrenner; child’s perspective; deductive content analysis; health promotion; photographs.

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Focus Groups*
  • Humans
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Sweden