Today we are delighted to launch a new FREE Children for Health resource, My Hero, a book on the theme of Type 2 Diabetes. It combines a storybook followed by 10 activities for older children and educators to help children deepen and strengthen their understanding of the themes and ideas raised in the story.
Download for free now!
https://www.childrenforhealth.org/MyHero
My Hero was developed over many months. It is a collaboration between the team at Children for Health and with children, their teachers, youth workers and public health professionals in Guam. It was funded by and supported by many different organisations in Guam.
We began the process by conducting ‘discovery conversations’ with health professionals, a teacher, and a youth leader. This provided an understanding of the main issues and challenges. We then put together guidance for teachers in how to run workshops with children, using the participation of children in action and learning on the prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.
One of the workshop activities used the Children for Health Type 2 Diabetes poster that we published last year. This poster was also co-created with experts and a team in Guam.
https://www.childrenforhealth.org/DiabetesPoster
The teachers in Guam conducted workshops with the children and collected ideas and information from them. These included ideas for characters, situations, and little pieces of dialogue.
The central character is Harry whose father is ill with Type 2 Diabetes, this idea and Harry’s worry are lifted straight from these workshops.
From the workshops we understood that children knew a lot about healthy eating, the need to drink water instead of sugary drinks, and the need to exercise. The problem is that despite knowing what to do, for many reasons linked to lifestyle and having fun and meaningful connections, it is hard for children and their families to make these choices. This story looks at the idea of identity and how changing habits are linked to identity.
As well as these themes Children for Health also seeks to weave in the very real influence that children have on each other in early adolescence. Children for Health worked with an experienced author to create a good story from the many ideas developed in Guam.
Once our story was written in draft form, the team in Guam reviewed it and gave us feedback. We have had more readers and received feedback from other experts as we wish for this book to work, not only for children in Guam, but for children in other countries too.
Below each chapter we provide summaries of the chapter in ‘red sentences’ and these designed for older children to use alongside the illustrations to read or tell the story to others including younger children.
We hope you like it!
Download our free resource here:
https://www.childrenforhealth.org/MyHero
Please note! Children for Health supports the idea that people can be healthy at many sizes. We do not believe in weight loss through dieting and the pressures in society that cause children to try to lose weight. These pressures are ineffective and are almost always harmful and can lead to eating disorders. Children for Health promotes healthy eating and enjoyable physical activity to feel better and live longer. We do not believe weight loss through dieting is the way to become healthy. We do believe in learning what makes us feel strong and happier and emphasizing the small changes that are realistic and that can be sustained and supported within a child’s family and community setting. Scientific evidence supports this.
We are always delighted to receive your feedback.