What do young people think will make the UK a healthier nation?

As part of the 2023 national Festival of Social Science, four Welsh schools visited Cardiff University to debate which health policies would most effectively make the UK a healthier nation.

Diabetes, cancer, coronary heart disease and mental health conditions are some of the major health challenges facing our population today. Many of these health issues begin in childhood and will develop through health behaviours and habits over time.

Whilst recent research is crucial in improving the health of the general population, turning these findings into a call to action that resonates with individuals whilst encouraging healthy behaviour changes is a challenge facing all public health teams.

As part of this year’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Sciences event, the Lifespan Multimorbidity Research Collaborative (LINC) invited pupils from Cantonian High, Cardiff High, and Whitchurch High in Cardiff, and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg, to Cardiff University to learn about genetic and environmental health risks, as well as public health responses adopted by the UK nations.

The students provided great insights into what young people think about a range of public health policies and campaigns that have been implemented in Wales and other parts of the UK.

Some policies were praised, whilst others were regarded unappealing to young people, which provided valuable insight for public health teams to consider.

Each school was asked to design a public health policy that they would propose to the government based on the question: ‘How can we make the UK a healthier nation?’

This resulted in a range of innovative and impressive health policies created to tackle vaping and smoking, obesity, ultra processed food, and to prepare young adults for their newfound independence after moving out.

Students debated against the other schools to persuade a panel of judges why their policy would be the most effective, using some of strategies they had learnt earlier in the day from a local barrister who provided some tips on formulating a persuasive argument.

Following a quick-witted debate, judges commented how impressed they were with all the proposed health strategies and with the talent of those delivering their arguments.

After a tough decision, Whitchurch High School were crowned the winning team and won £100 for their school – well done Whitchurch!

One student who attended shared that their expectations for the day had been exceeded, and that the day had 'opened up a world of science to engage in'.

We would like to thank each of the schools who attended for participating in the event, and the ESRC for providing funding in support of the day.