AI Insight
A web-based educational program on metabolism and obesity for Brazilian school teachers achieved an 81.98% completion rate, far exceeding typical MOOC benchmarks. Teachers who completed the course reported significant improvements in personal health behaviors and were more likely to implement health-promoting activities in their classrooms. However, substantial ethnic and geographic disparities were identified, with White teachers being 4.95 times more likely to complete the course than Black teachers, and no participation from three northern states.
Why it matters
This study demonstrates that web-based health education can effectively reach teachers and influence both personal health behaviors and classroom practices, potentially creating a multiplier effect for student health promotion. The findings also highlight that digital health interventions may inadvertently widen existing inequities, emphasizing the need for targeted strategies to ensure equitable access and engagement across ethnic and geographic groups.
Understand the Science
⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Background: Obesity is a major global public health challenge, and teachers play a critical role in school-based health promotion. This study examined the perceived impact of a web-based educational program on metabolism and obesity delivered to Brazilian school teachers. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study included 217 teachers who responded to the evaluation questionnaire after attending the course between 2017 and 2022. Statistical analyses included logistic regression and chi-square tests. Findings: Course completion rate was 81.98%, substantially exceeding the 5-15% typical of global MOOCs. However, ethnic disparities were observed: White respondents were 4.95 times more likely to complete the course than Black respondents (p=0.00097) and Brown respondents were 3.05 times more likely (p=0.0268) than Black respondents. Among non-completers, lack of time (64.7%) was the primary barrier. Participation was concentrated in Sao Paulo (77%), with no respondents from three northern states. Perceived difficulty showed a non-significant trend (p=0.0893) where by Black respondents had the lowest predicted difficulty; the most challenging course material was Scientific Content/Reading papers (50%). Completion was strongly associated with applying learned activities in teaching (p<2.2×10-16); 57.1% of completers implemented health-promoting activities, most commonly games, healthy eating, and combined diet-physical activity habits. Completers also reported significant improvements in lifestyle decisions (p=1.76×10-21) and healthy habits (p=9.35×10-77), including better diet and increased physical activity. Conclusion and interpretation: Course completion was associated with reported improvements in diet, physical activity, nutrition knowledge, and teaching practices among Brazilian teachers. However, marked ethnic and regional disparities were observed. White teachers were nearly five times more likely to complete the course than Black teachers. The absence of respondents from northern states reveals that scalability without equity widens existing gaps. Online access to free courses alone does not democratize education; mitigating ethnic and regional disparities must be a priority for digital health interventions.