Development of the health education material, “Kenko Niko-Niko Card”: feasibility for parent and child

Abstract

Objective: We developed a comprehensive health education material entitled, “Kenko Niko-Niko Card,” which aims to help children acquire knowledge, reflect on their daily lives through play at home and preschool or kindergarten, and improve their lifestyles. The objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of the educational material for the children who are about to enter elementary school and their parents to improve their lifestyles.

Activities: Total of 4 weeks from late February to late March 2022, program using the educational material were held for 54 children who were about to enter elementary school and their mothers. We mailed the educational materials (cards, support books, etc.) to the participants in advance, and asked them to play at home and challenge themselves to improve their lifestyles. Process evaluations using an online, unmarked, self-administered questionnaire survey were conducted once a week, for four consecutive weeks.

Activity evaluations: The results of the evaluation showed that the materials were most utilized in the first week (98.1%), the challenge to improve their lifestyles was most engaged in the fourth week (88.9%), and the percentage of children and parents who engaged in the challenge for more than one week was 96.3%. Approximately 90% of the mothers reported that their children enjoyed playing cards (94.4%), were enthusiastic about the life improvement challenge (88.9%), and that the mothers themselves enjoyed interacting with their children in the play and challenge (90.8%). Positive comments were also obtained, such that the program provided an opportunity to improve their lifestyles.

Conclusions: It was shown that the materials could be used to improve the lifestyles of the children and parents interested and about to enter elementary school.