Children's Health and Education in School and community Settings (CHESS)

The research group works to promote children's health, well-being, and learning, thereby reducing inequalities in health, well-being, and education. We believe that education and learning play a central role in creating a healthy life – and that healthy, thriving children are better equipped for learning and development.

Research shows that prevention is most effective, especially when it comes to children. In the research group CHESS, we focus on structural prevention methods that promote children's health and well-being – particularly for children at increased risk of diseases related to lifestyle and living conditions, regardless of functional level. In Denmark, we are seeing an increase in diseases linked to the way we live and grow up, which impacts quality of life and increases pressure on the healthcare system and the institutions where children spend a significant amount of their waking hours.

Health promotion and prevention initiatives with meaning and relevance

Research has shown that external incentives to engage in health-promoting behavior, such as achieving better health through physical activity, are often not sufficient to maintain long-term participation. This indicates the need for health promotion and prevention initiatives to not only focus on future health benefits for children and youth but also to make these initiatives meaningful and relevant in the immediate context.

At the same time, numerous studies show that children's and youth's health behavior is largely influenced by the opportunities available to them—the context they are in. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance children's and youth's opportunities and abilities to actively participate in various activities, such as movement and physical activity/sports, while also ensuring that they have a positive and meaningful experience. In other words, it is necessary to address the underlying causes of behavior.

In our work on children's health, well-being, and learning, we strive to create a daily life for children where they encounter a context that encourages them to engage in health-promoting behaviors, such as being more active, curious, playful, eating healthier, and participating in communities.

We believe it is crucial to focus on the environments where children spend most of their time – including the family and leisure activities, but especially daycares and schools, where children spend a significant part of their day. Therefore, we pay particular attention to risk factors in schools, daycares, sports organizations, and the family, which can be reduced to improve children's mental, social, and physical health. This will also promote better learning and help reduce educational inequality, especially for children from vulnerable families.

Mission-oriented research and innovation with practice

Our research is mission-oriented and based on thorough health promotion, educational, and interdisciplinary research. Our mission is to develop, evaluate, and implement effective and sustainable interventions, programs, and pedagogies. We do this by changing the context in which children and youth find themselves, thereby enhancing their skills and capacities to engage in health-promoting behaviors throughout their lives.

Therefore, we work towards creating innovation through partnerships, for example collaborations between regional and municipal authorities. Collaboration with practice is highly valuable because we firmly believe that in order to improve general prevention efforts targeted at children, it is essential to work across disciplines, professions, and sectors. Therefore, we collaborate with schools, daycare institutions, associations, museums, and local communities with the aim of enhancing children's health, well-being, and learning.

Principles and foundations for interventions and initiatives

In our work developing, evaluating, and implementing interventions, initiatives, and pedagogies that improve opportunities for lifelong engagement in health-promoting behaviors, we are guided by several principles and models of health promotion:

In addition to developing, evaluating, and implementing interventions, we also work on developing validated measures of children's competencies and capacities to engage in health-promoting behaviors, for example "health literacy," "physical literacy," and "food literacy." At the same time, we address areas closely linked to children's health, well-being and learning, such as measures of nature Bildung and "climate change literacy."

The CHESS research group has extensive experience in health promotion and intervention research in areas including "physical literacy," "food literacy," the significance of nature and physical environments for health, and educational practices in nature, including Educations Outside the Classroom (EOtC) – research areas for which we are internationally recognized.

Collaborations

Our past and present collaborators include, among others VIA University College, Children and Nature - Denmark, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Steno Diabetes Center Zealand, Steno Diabetes Center North Denmark, a number of municipalities in the Capital Region, Zealand Region, and across the country, the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports – University of Copenhagen, the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management – University of Copenhagen, the Department of Public Health – Aarhus University, University of Southern Denmark, Danish School Sports, DGI, DIF, KFUM's Social Work, UC Nord, University College Absalon, University College Copenhagen, Center for Better Children's Lives, Just Human Game, Experimentarium, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, and Haver til Maver, the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, The Danish Knowledge Centre on Disability, several international research groups, as well as a wide range of schools, daycare institutions, and educational and health professionals.

We also participate in and contribute to several councils and networks, including Healthy Weight in Children, Nature and Children – Denmark, Active Healthy Kids, FishTank, Schools for Health in Europe, PLnet (Physical Literacy Network Denmark), UdeskoleNet, Geopark The South Fyn Archipelago, PLaTO-Net (Play, Learn and Teach Outdoors Network, Canada), and the Network for Curiosity (TrygFonden), and we have previously participated in Subjects in Motion (STUK, Ministry of Education).