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Using popular children's characters to help parents protect their young children from the sun
Author(s) -
McDermott Liane,
Lowe John B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he03066
Subject(s) - population health , health economics , public health , community health , sun protection , medicine , environmental health , pediatrics , psychology , nursing
Issue addressed This study aimed to assist parents to encourage their young children to accept and adopt sunprotective behaviour. A storybook using characters from a popular children's entertainment group, The Wiggles, was developed to deliver sun‐safety messages. Methods The storybook was distributed to 230 children aged 2–3 years. A questionnaire was distributed to all participating parents to quantitatively evaluate the parents' and children's use of the storybook and its appeal. Telephone interviews were also conducted with a random sample of parents to qualitatively assess responses to the storybook. Results The storybook was extremely well received by both parents and children. Its appeal was predominantly attributed to the use of the popular Wiggles characters as role models and the subtle delivery of sun‐safety messages in a light‐hearted manner. Approximately 86% of parents stated that they used the book to encourage their child to be sun safe and this was done most commonly once a week. Qualitative findings revealed that most of the parents utilised the Wiggles characters as role models to remind or reinforce their child to wear a hat and sunscreen.