Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; firefighters are at a greater risk for both the disease and death. Their exposure to stress, toxic fumes and smoke, unhealthy eating habits, excessive weight, and low levels of physical activity are all contributing risk factors to this disease. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effectiveness of a multi-faceted program of exercise and nutritional counseling to decrease body fat composition and increase fitness levels nine months after initial implementation among a sample of 202 firefighters. Social learning theory was the theoretical foundation for the study, as the firefighting population utilizes strong social networks which aid in the ability to observe, model, and imitate new learned healthier behaviors. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between pre- and post-body composition. There were significant differences seen between pretest- and posttest fitness scores. The implication for positive social change lies in the fact that these study findings indicate that voluntary exercise and nutrition programs may not be adequate to address the issue of obesity among the firefighter population. Results can be used to inform better nutrition and exercise interventions for firefighters, thus helping them attain their goal of becoming a healthier workforce.

Background: Reviews of primary research in developed countries and policy in the UK demonstrate there is a lack of evidence from well conducted RCTs on lifestyle interventions for childhood obesity (NICE 2006, SIGN 2003, Oude Luttikhuis et al. 2009). Objectives: To develop, implement and evaluate the Y W8? family focused childhood obesity treatment programme using a randomized controlled trial. Methods: The programme was developed using Bartholomew’s Intervention Mapping framework. Using this stepped process a needs analysis was undertaken, a steering group formed, focus groups were completed in local schools and interviews took place with parents of obese children. The determinants identified by these processes were combined with relevant theories and information gathered through a literature review to develop the programme. Y W8? is a 12 week course for families with children aged 8–13 years designed to assist with weight management. The RCT was designed as an individually randomised parallel-group trial with a waiting-list control group. Children in the intervention group (n=59) had their height, weight, self-reported physical activity levels, self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption and a measure of self-esteem recorded at pre- and post-assessment, whilst only height and weight was collected from the children in the control group (n=55). Results: Twelve week (post course) results showed a significant difference in change in BMI z-score between the control and intervention group, mean difference = -0.12 (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.16, F (1, 98) = 54.04, p < 0.0005), with the control group increasing and the intervention group decreasing their BMI z-score. Analysis showed this positive effect on weight status did not adversely affect linear growth. For the intervention group 81% of children completed the programme. Implications: This RCT offers evidence to support the use of family-based treatment programmes in the treatment of childhood obesity and displays positive results in the short-term, at a lower cost than similar interventions. The thesis also demonstrates how a public health programme can be implemented and sustained in routine NHS practice.

A educação física relaciona-se com a promoção de saúde no âmbito escolar. Foi verificado que ainda faltam estudos que visam o levantamento dos sentidos atribuídos pelos alunos com deficiência e professores de Educação Física às aulas de EFE, principalmente a partir das políticas de inclusão de crianças com deficiência em escolas regulares. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo de caráter exploratório, com o objetivo de analisar como as aulas de educação física em que participam alunos com deficiência são significadas pelos professores de Educação física e pelos alunos com deficiência destes professores. O estudo foi realizado em cinco escolas públicas municipais em uma cidade do interior de São Paulo, por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, com oito professores de Educação Física e dez alunos com deficiência. Os resultados evidenciaram que os professores gostam de desenvolver aulas com crianças com deficiência, pois para eles isto se torna muito compensador ao ver estes alunos com deficiência estão conseguindo realizar as atividades. Por outro lado, poucos professores tiveram acesso aos conteúdos sobre o trabalho com a criança com deficiência na sua formação inicial ou tiveram oportunidades de formação continuada. Assim, o sentido da realização do trabalho desenvolvido pelo professor de Educação Física na escola com crianças com deficiência acaba sendo predominantemente o de falta: falta de formação, falta de recursos educacionais adaptados, falta de auxiliares. Em relação às condições de trabalho, ainda faltam melhorias que poderiam facilitar o trabalho do professor de educação física em vários aspectos, sendo eles, espaço físico, materiais, uma maior parceria com as famílias, maior apoio da rede de ensino, principalmente na oferta de uma formação direcionada ao trabalho com crianças com deficiência. Um aspecto fragilizador no trabalho destes professores se refere ao planejamento, visto que os professores participantes não trazem muitos detalhes deste planejamento ou fazem um planejamento geral que pode não estar indo ao encontro das reais necessidades destes alunos com deficiência, com uma intencionalidade de tornar sua aula mais inclusiva e trabalhando com a zona de desenvolvimento proximal dos alunos com deficiência. Para as crianças com deficiência entrevistadas, os sentidos da aula de educação física estão ligados ao bem estar, possibilidade de jogar e de brincar, o que evidencia também que os sentidos para as crianças com deficiência podem ser diferentes dos sentidos para os professores / Physical Education is related to the promotion of health in the school environment. In addition, studies aiming at surveying the meanings impaired students and teachers confer to Physical Education classes are scarce, especially with the implementation of inclusion policies for impaired children in regular schools. This is a qualitative exploratory study which aimed at analyzing how Physical Education classes in which participate impaired students are meant by Physical Education teachers and by their impaired students. This study was conducted in five public municipal schools in the countryside of São Paulo, by means of semistructured interviews, with eight Physical Education teachers and ten impaired students. Results showed that the teachers like to develop classes with impaired children, because it is very rewarding for them to realize that these students are able to perform the proposed activities. In contrast, few teachers had access to contents regarding the work with impaired children during their initial formation, or continuous training opportunity. Thus, the meaning of the work developed by these teachers is, predominantly, the lack of formation, lack of adapted educational resources, lack of helpers. Regarding the work conditions, some improvement which could facilitate the theachers\' work is still missing concerning physical space, materials, a better partnership with families, better support of the educational network, mainly by offering a formation directed to working with impaired children. A debilitating aspect regarding the work of these teachers is related to planning, since the participant teachers do not provide details of this planning, or conduct a general planning which may not meet the real needs of these impaired students, aiming at making their classes more including and also working with the zone of proximal development of the impaired students. For the interviewed impaired children, the meanings of the Physical Education classes are linked to the well-being and the possibility of playing, which also highlights that the meanings for impaired children may be different from the teachers\'

A proposta de Reforma Psiquiátrica vem modificando a assistência ao portador de transtorno mental nas últimas décadas. Com a desinstitucionalização do doente mental, emergem novos paradigmas com grandes desafios a todos os atores sociais envolvidos na construção da cidadania e na busca da reabilitação psicossocial. Surgem novos conceitos do processo saúde-doença, novas redes de assistência, alocação de recursos como também a implantação de Centros de Atenção Psicossocial CAPS e ainda diretrizes do Ministério da Saúde determinando que as ações, no campo da saúde mental, sejam realizadas na atenção básica, ou seja, nas Unidades Básicas de Saúde (UBS) e por meio da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF). A ESF passa a ser uma importante ferramenta no processo saúde-doença no que diz respeito ao cuidado integral do ser humano visando à promoção, prevenção, proteção e recuperação tanto das doenças físicas, sociais quanto mentais. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é compreender as necessidades da ESF para desenvolver as ações de saúde mental na comunidade e identificar as ações desenvolvidas pelas equipes da ESF frente aos portadores de transtornos mentais e seus familiares. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, que foi desenvolvida por meio de entrevista semiestruturada realizada com os membros das equipes da ESF, as entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas na íntegra para análise. O material foi analisado por meio da Análise Discurso sob a ótica do referencial teórico do materialismo histórico e dialético. Emergiram das entrevistas três categorias: Processo Saúde Doença-Mental; Família; Processo de Trabalho. Os discursos dos informantes revelaram que os profissionais ESF mantêm a prática da psiquiatria tradicional centrado nas consultas, na medicação e nos exames, sendo esse o principal instrumento para a produção de saúde, e exercício das práticas destes profissionais está baseado no diagnóstico psiquiátrico; é incipiente o numero de profissionais que se mobiliza a desenvolver ações voltas ao acolhimento e a escuta; realizam atividades grupais e relatam que existe a necessidade de ampliar seus conhecimentos na área de saúde mental. / The proposed Psychiatric Reform has changed how mental health patients have been assisted in recent decades. With the deinstitutionalization of mental health patients, new paradigms have emerged offering great challenges to all social actors involved in constructing citizenship and to the search for psychosocial rehabilitation. New concepts of the health-disease process have appeared, along with new assistance networks, allocation of resources, as well as the creation of Psychosocial Care Centers CAPS, and Health Ministry guidelines stipulating that actions in the mental health field be undertaken at the basic care level at Basic Health Units (UBS) and through the Family Health Strategy (ESF). ESF has become an important tool in the health-disease process with regard to integral care aiming for the promotion, prevention, protection and recovery of physical, social and mental illness. Thus, the objective of this work is to comprehend the needs of ESF to develop mental health actions in the community and identify the actions developed by ESF teams with regard to mental health patients and their relatives. It is a qualitative research, to be developed through semi-structured interviews with members of the ESF teams; the interviews were recorded and fully transcribed for analysis. O material foi analisado por meio da Análise Discurso sob a ótica do referencial teórico do materialismo histórico e dialético. The material was analyzed through discourse analysis under the theoretical framework of historical and dialectical materialism. Three categories emerged from the interviews: Health-Mental Illness process; Family; Work Process. The discourses of the informants revealed that ESF professionals keep traditional psychiatric practice centered on consultations, medication and exams, making it the main tool for health production, with the exercise of these professionals practice based on psychiatric diagnosis; the number of professionals who mobilize to develop actions focusing on welcoming and listening is still incipient; they perform group activities and report the need to broaden their knowledge on the field of mental health.

O fortalecimento da promoção da saúde considerando o espaço escolar como um ambiente de potencialidades para seu desenvolvimento está previsto nas ações intersetoriais entre a escola e os serviços de saúde, e está entre os objetivos centrais do trabalho da equipe Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) e do Programa Saúde na Escola (PSE). O estudo teve por objetivo analisar as significações de professores do ensino fundamental sobre as ações da equipe de saúde na escola em um município do interior paulista. O estudo foi realizado a partir de abordagem qualitativa de pesquisa, utilizando como técnica de construção de dados a entrevista semiestruturada com professores dos 1º aos 5º anos do ensino fundamental das escolas de abrangência de Unidades de Estratégia Saúde da Família de um município do interior paulista. Participaram do estudo 16 professores de seis escolas públicas municipais. A pesquisa fundamentou-se nos conceitos de promoção e educação em saúde, utilizando a abordagem histórico-cultural de Vigotski como referencial teórico. Utilizou-se a proposta de análise temática de Braun e Clarke (2006). Os resultados evidenciaram as significações construídas pelos professores, que indicam a importância da parceria entre saúde e educação. No entanto, outras significações indicaram fragilidades de tal parceria, com a tendência de os profissionais da educação significarem saúde a partir de uma concepção preventivista e de culpabilização das famílias pelos comportamentos não saudáveis dos alunos. Associado a isso, os professores relatam ações pontuais e fragmentadas relacionadas à saúde ocorrendo no contexto escolar, com pouca corresponsabilidade entre os setores. Quanto às ações programáticas de saúde, os professores construíram significações que indicam a importância de se construir um planejamento conjunto e identificaram estratégias para práticas intersetoriais mais efetivas. Considera-se que novas posturas devem ser adotadas pela equipe da ESF e do PSE, no sentido de fortalecer a relação com a equipe da escola, a partir de uma visão de que os sujeitos se transformam e se modificam a partir das relações / The strengthening of health promotion by considering the school space as an environment of potential for its development is foreseen in the intersectoral actions between the school and the health services and it is among the central goals of the work of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) team and Health in School Program (HSP). The aim of this study was to analyze the meanings of elementary school teachers about the actions of the health team in the school in a city in the countryside of São Paulo. The study was carried out from a qualitative research approach, using as a data construction technique the semi-structured interview with elementary school teachers from first to fifth grade of the schools surrounding the Family Health Strategy Units of a city in the countryside of São Paulo. Sixteen teachers from six municipal public schools participated in the study. The research was based on the concepts of promotion and health education, using the historical-cultural approach of Vygotsky as a theoretical reference. It was used the thematic analysis proposal of Braun and Clarke (2006). The results showed the significations built by the teachers that indicate the importance of the partnership between health and education. However, other meanings indicated fragilities of this partnership, with the tendency of the education professionals to mean health from a preventivist conception and blame of the families for the unhealthy behaviors of the students. Associated with this, the teachers report punctual and fragmented actions related to health occurring in the school context, with little co-responsibility between the sectors. As for programmatic health actions, the teachers built meanings that show the importance of constructing a joint planning and identified strategies for more effective intersectoral practices. It is considered that new postures should be adopted by the FHS and HSP team, in order to strengthen the relationship with the school team, based on a view that the subjects transform and change themselves from the relations

O fortalecimento da promoção da saúde considerando o espaço escolar como um ambiente de potencialidades para seu desenvolvimento está previsto nas ações intersetoriais entre a escola e os serviços de saúde, e está entre os objetivos centrais do trabalho da equipe Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) e do Programa Saúde na Escola (PSE). O estudo teve por objetivo analisar as significações de professores do ensino fundamental sobre as ações da equipe de saúde na escola em um município do interior paulista. O estudo foi realizado a partir de abordagem qualitativa de pesquisa, utilizando como técnica de construção de dados a entrevista semiestruturada com professores dos 1º aos 5º anos do ensino fundamental das escolas de abrangência de Unidades de Estratégia Saúde da Família de um município do interior paulista. Participaram do estudo 16 professores de seis escolas públicas municipais. A pesquisa fundamentou-se nos conceitos de promoção e educação em saúde, utilizando a abordagem histórico-cultural de Vigotski como referencial teórico. Utilizou-se a proposta de análise temática de Braun e Clarke (2006). Os resultados evidenciaram as significações construídas pelos professores, que indicam a importância da parceria entre saúde e educação. No entanto, outras significações indicaram fragilidades de tal parceria, com a tendência de os profissionais da educação significarem saúde a partir de uma concepção preventivista e de culpabilização das famílias pelos comportamentos não saudáveis dos alunos. Associado a isso, os professores relatam ações pontuais e fragmentadas relacionadas à saúde ocorrendo no contexto escolar, com pouca corresponsabilidade entre os setores. Quanto às ações programáticas de saúde, os professores construíram significações que indicam a importância de se construir um planejamento conjunto e identificaram estratégias para práticas intersetoriais mais efetivas. Considera-se que novas posturas devem ser adotadas pela equipe da ESF e do PSE, no sentido de fortalecer a relação com a equipe da escola, a partir de uma visão de que os sujeitos se transformam e se modificam a partir das relações / The strengthening of health promotion by considering the school space as an environment of potential for its development is foreseen in the intersectoral actions between the school and the health services and it is among the central goals of the work of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) team and Health in School Program (HSP). The aim of this study was to analyze the meanings of elementary school teachers about the actions of the health team in the school in a city in the countryside of São Paulo. The study was carried out from a qualitative research approach, using as a data construction technique the semi-structured interview with elementary school teachers from first to fifth grade of the schools surrounding the Family Health Strategy Units of a city in the countryside of São Paulo. Sixteen teachers from six municipal public schools participated in the study. The research was based on the concepts of promotion and health education, using the historical-cultural approach of Vygotsky as a theoretical reference. It was used the thematic analysis proposal of Braun and Clarke (2006). The results showed the significations built by the teachers that indicate the importance of the partnership between health and education. However, other meanings indicated fragilities of this partnership, with the tendency of the education professionals to mean health from a preventivist conception and blame of the families for the unhealthy behaviors of the students. Associated with this, the teachers report punctual and fragmented actions related to health occurring in the school context, with little co-responsibility between the sectors. As for programmatic health actions, the teachers built meanings that show the importance of constructing a joint planning and identified strategies for more effective intersectoral practices. It is considered that new postures should be adopted by the FHS and HSP team, in order to strengthen the relationship with the school team, based on a view that the subjects transform and change themselves from the relations

A promoção da saúde (PS) na escola visa colaborar para a construção da autonomia de alunos e professores, de forma a gerar microtransformações na comunidade local, nos aspectos que tangem à saúde. O objetivo geral deste estudo foi analisar os sentidos atribuídos por crianças e adolescentes às atividades de PS na escola, e os objetivos específicos foram identificar os sentidos atribuídos pelas crianças e adolescentes às atividades de (PS) na escola e analisar relações que fazem sobre saúde em seu cotidiano. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, ancorada na abordagem histórico-cultural de Lev Vigotski e colaboradores, em que se empregou a análise temática de Braun e Clarke como ferramenta para a análise de dados. Foram realizados 4 grupos focais de alunos com idades entre 11 e 14 anos, que vivenciaram atividades de PS em uma escola pública de Ribeirão Preto. Esses participantes produziram ainda, por escrito e ao final do grupo focal, impressões sobre as atividades de PS. Foram também obtidas informações de documentos escolares e de registros de observações da pesquisadora. Os resultados levaram à constituição dos seguintes temas: Temas apresentados pelos alunos - com contextualização das dinâmicas das atividades realizadas pelas coordenadoras das atividades de PS (estagiárias de enfermagem) na escola; Aspectos constitutivos da aprendizagem em saúde - apontam a apropriação dos conceitos científicos feitas pelos alunos, e a presença do vínculo e do acolhimento na relação que se estabeleceu entre coordenadoras das atividades de PS e os alunos; Repercussão das aprendizagens no cotidiano - destacaram-se situações vivenciadas na escola levadas para o dia a dia dos participantes, gerando pequenas transformações no contexto familiar e escolar, mostrando que o aprendizado compreende a tomada de consciência para a mudança de atitude e passa a fazer parte das atividades dos alunos no cotidiano; Princípios da Promoção da Saúde - definidos pela OMS, destacaram-se: Ações Multiestratégicas - metodologias ativas nas atividades de PS; Concepção Holística da Saúde - a relação do bullying com a saúde mental (depressão) e com a responsabilidade pelo bem-estar dos demais, considerando que podem levar à morte (suicídio) ou salvar vidas; Intersetorialidade -relação entre educação (professores) e saúde (coordenadoras das atividades de PS); Sustentabilidade - continuidade necessária das atividades para que ocorram as transformações no cotidiano e no ambiente escolar; Participação Social - pequenas atitudes podem causar consequências importantes para as pessoas que estão próximas e no contexto local; Empoderamento - pequenas transformações adotadas pelos participantes demonstraram a potencialidade de se tornarem atividades que colaboram para a ressignificação da saúde e para transformações na sociedade; Equidade - importância do respeito para a construção de uma boa convivência escolar; por fim o tema: Sugestões dos alunos para as atividades de Promoção da Saúde - sugestão de autoestima e saúde bucal como temas e visita à USP para atividades de PS na escola. Os sentidos atribuídos pelos alunos às experiências vivenciadas nas atividades de PS apontaram aprendizagem e transformações no cotidiano, que contribuem para a vivência mais saudável e comunitária, indicando a importância do trabalho de PS nas escolas / Promotion of health (PS) in school aims to collaborate for the construction of the autonomy of students and teachers, in order to generate micro transformations in the local community, in aspects that affect health. The general objective of this study was to analyze the meanings attributed by children and adolescents to PS activities at school, and the specific objectives were to identify the meanings attributed by children and adolescents to the activities of (PS) at school and analyze relationships that they make about health in your daily life. This is a qualitative research, anchored in the historical-cultural approach of Lev Vigotski et al., in which the thematic analysis of Braun and Clarke was used as a tool for data analysis. Four focus groups were carried out on students aged 11 to 14 years, who experienced PS activities in a public school in Ribeirão Preto. These participants also produced, in writing and at the end of the focus group, impressions on PS activities. Information was also obtained from school documents and records of the researcher observations. The results led to the constitution of the following themes: Topics presented by the students - with contextualization of the dynamics of the activities carried out by the coordinators of the PS activities (nursing trainees) in the school; Constitutive aspects of health learning - point out the appropriation of the scientific concepts made by the students, and the presence of the bond and the reception in the relationship that was established between coordinators of the PS activities and the students; Repercussion of learning in the daily life - highlighted situations experienced in the school taken to the daily life of the participants, generating small transformations in the family and school context, showing that the learning comprises the awareness for the change of attitude and becomes part of student daily activities; Principles of Health Promotion - defined by the WHO, were highlighted: Multi-strategic actions - active methodologies in the activities of PS; Holistic Health Conception - the relationship of bullying to mental health (depression) and responsibility for the well-being of others, considering that they can lead to death (suicide) or save lives; Intersectoriality - relationship between education (teachers) and health (coordinators of PS activities); Sustainability - necessary continuity of activities in order to bring changes in the daily life and in the school environment; Social Participation - small attitudes can have important consequences for people who are close and in the local context; Empowerment - small transformations adopted by the participants demonstrated the potential of becoming activities that contribute to the re-signification of health and to changes in society; Equity - importance of respect for the construction of a good school life; Finally, the theme: Suggestions of the students for the activities of Health Promotion - suggestion of self-esteem and oral health as themes and visit to USP for PS activities in school. The senses attributed by the students to the experiences lived in the activities of PS pointed to learning and transformations in the daily life, which contribute to a healthier and more communal life, indicating the importance of PS work in schools

There is a need for epilepsy-based health education programs to enlighten Nigerian communities and reduce the stigma associated with epilepsy. Epilepsy in Nigeria is viewed by some as a contagious and an infectious disease or a condition imposed from the gods, possessed by demons, as the work of witchcraft, or punishment from ancestral spirits, which are all related to a lack of knowledge about epilepsy leading to stigmatization of persons with epilepsy. Guided by the stigma theory, the purpose of this community-based, cross sectional study was to quantitatively examine the effect of an educational program on interpersonal, internalized, and institutional stigma of epilepsy in terms of knowledge, attitude, and treatment gained. Two hundred and fifty participants completed a general domain instrument which had been used in different countries, including South Eastern Nigeria, and revised for greater validity via a pilot study. Chi-square tests were used to examine any significant differences in participants' responses between pre- and post-test surveys regarding knowledge, attitude, and treatment gained of all 3 identified stigma levels. According to study results, the educational program reduced all 3 stigma levels in terms of attitude, knowledge, and treatment gained of epilepsy (p< 0.001). This study contributed to positive social change by providing information to public health workers on how to increase the knowledge and awareness of the South Eastern Nigerian community that epilepsy is not contagious or infectious and there is no need to isolate persons with epilepsy from their societies.

WISEWOMAN (WW) is a comprehensive program for medically underserved women in South Dakota (SD), aged 30 to 64, which aims to reduce morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Screening services include blood total cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose, and body mass index (BMI). Lifestyle intervention (LSI) sessions are also offered to address physical activity and nutrition. The purpose of this retrospective longitudinal study was to quantitatively examine whether the combination of LSI's and clinical screenings or clinical screenings alone lead to improvements in blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, and/or BMI at rescreening 10 to14 months from initial screening. Guided by the social ecological model, it was hypothesized that SD-WW participants attending the screening sessions as well as the intervention sessions would have greater reductions in blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose than participants who only received screenings. Participants included 653 low-income women aged 30 to 64 enrolled in the screening alone (N=423) and SD-WW program (N=230) from 2000-2005, who completed both the screening and rescreening 10 to14 months later. Secondary data analysis using forced-entry multiple regression of the traditional measures employed in the screening alone control condition yielded significant predictive models for change scores in blood pressure, BMI, blood glucose, and cholesterol among all participants. Neither dummy variable regression nor ANOVA results indicated any significant impact of the SD-WW intervention on these same health outcome changes. Findings contribute to positive social change by demonstrating that screening alone is effective in predicting health outcomes, thus allowing more disadvantaged women to be served by public agencies that may face reduced funding for their array of programs.

This formative research examines the effects of health promotion on girls' and young women's health behaviours. Health promotion campaigns targeting women have previously had variable success. Some have been criticised for containing unhelpful values and messages, for example, those that were seen to cause harm to women outside the target population or use of stereotypical symbolism to support the message. Within this study these are called 'unintended consequences'. The Young Women and Health Promotion (YW&HP) study examines the potential for unintended consequences (both negative and positive) of health promotion in general. The focus is then narrowed to examine in more detail whether the use of specific methodologies (such as social marketing), contribute to unintended consequences when promoting physical activity, nutrition and non- smoking messages to girls' and young women. These health behaviours were specifically targeted as they are known to be the major modifiable risk factors for women in the prevention of many chronic illnesses. / This formative research involved the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from 132 girls and young women across three age categories. These were Year 7 girls (Children - 11-12 years), Year 10 girls (Adolescents - 14-15 years) and young adults (18-25 years). Eighteen focus groups and 15 in-depth interviews were conducted to elicit responses to examine the effects of health promotion on girls' and young women's health behaviours, with particular focus on unintended effects. Current and past health promotion materials, plus a selection of commercial campaigns were utilized to prompt discussion within the groups. The discussion allowed the exploration of girls' and young women's motivators (enabling and reinforcing factors) for personal health behaviours, attitudes and responses to health promotion materials, and the longer-term impacts of health promotion campaigns. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed at the commencement of each focus group, which provided additional information and was later triangulated with the qualitative data. Limitations due to the cross-sectional nature and sampling process of the study mean the results cannot be generalized beyond the study population. However the findings demonstrated that young women are motivated by a complex set of factors. The most common factors influencing the study groups were body image, self-esteem, media and role models. / In addition young women of all age groups had a high awareness of the available messages in the areas studied. All groups discussed the increasing volume of health information available that is targeted at women. Participants noted much of the information originated from commercial sources. This in addition to public health initiatives resulted in increased 'health noise' to which they 'switched off. Furthermore the YW&HP study revealed the importance of written media for women. The young women in this study appreciated the need for mass media advertising, however, preferred to have take-home advice to process at their own time. Discussion of how women process information revealed these young women to be a critical and analytical audience that are often skeptical of health information. Prior to making a decision, therefore, most of the women underwent a process of internal and external validation which included cross referencing information with peers, friends, family and health professionals to establish its accuracy, credibility and validity. Hence the findings of this study would support the need for further exploration of media such as women's magazines to promote health to young women which may in turn prompt discussion with peers and therefore expedite the validation process. / Due to study limitations, results from this formative research need to be interpreted with caution. The results, however, would indicate the area of health promotion and how it communicates health information to young women would benefit from further investigation. The findings suggest many types of media currently being used to communicate health information to young women were useful and appropriate, specifically the use of social marketing media, which, was seen as a worthwhile and necessary strategy for this target group. Methods routinely used by commercial companies were also viewed as effective especially the use of women's magazines. As part of a comprehensive health promotion approach, this is a strategy, which may be an equally useful vehicle for public health messages. In conclusion, discussion with participants revealed a number of negative and positive unintended consequences. This would, therefore, support the need for further research in this area. Furthermore, the research has highlighted the importance of a comprehensive approach to the delivery of health information to young women. Best practice suggests this approach should adhere to ethical communication principles, which would enhance the intended outcomes of the communications whilst also assisting to maximize positive unintended consequences and minimize negative unintended consequences.