Director of the Florida Blue Center for Rural Health Research and Policy, Bonnie Spring, Ph.D., was part of a research team that evaluated Health4Life, a web-based health education program for Australian secondary school students.

Designed to address six health risk behaviors that often emerge during adolescence, the program covered alcohol use, tobacco smoking, physical inactivity, poor diet, poor sleep and excessive recreational screen time.

Researchers evaluated the program among 2,085 students ages 11–13 from 71 schools in Australia. Students received either six cartoon-based Health4Life modules as part of their health education classes or usual health education alone.

Results showed that Health4Life increased students’ knowledge of these health risk behaviors but did not reduce how often they engaged in them. Students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds also reported greater engagement with the modules, suggesting future programs should consider a wider range of literacy levels.