Middle School Students Want More Than Games for Health Education on the Internet

Abstract

A diabetes awareness website (the HOT project: Healthy Outcomes for Teens) with content (diet and exercise) specific for 14-17 year olds with type 2 diabetes or at risk for type 2 diabetes was developed. The content focused on skills/knowledge assessment, overview of diabetes/food, food groups/diabetes, physical activity/weight management, and eating for target blood glucose levels in 5 modules. Our objective was to elicit information from those participants relative to the appeal of the website after the intervention to enhance its sustainability/usability. Subjects (n=42) were recruited from 3 school districts in central Illinois and had participated in the HOT project intervention (12 focus groups, n=2-5 each). The interview sessions took an average of 60-90 minutes, were audio taped and then transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was used to identify 3 themes: kid appeal, healthy living, and living with and without diabetes. Within kid appeal, three sub themes were found: social, entertainment and information. The most significant finding of this study was that while participants wanted more games, they also wanted more information and more social interaction. Sleeping, friendship, and studying along with website content were mentioned concerning healthy living. About half had relatives with diabetes and were more familiar with diabetes terminology and concepts