Morton, SVickers, MHeymann, MBay, Jacqueline2017-09-052017https://hdl.handle.net/2292/35515The noncommunicable disease (NCD) crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the world. Impacts influence all communities, but are most significant in those with limited resources. Evidence from Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) demonstrates that early life environmental exposures influence health in infancy and childhood, and later-life NCD risk, revealing the transgenerational nature of NCDs. Improved environmental exposures from the periconceptional period through to adolescence support primary NCD prevention. During adolescence, cognitive, psychosocial and lifestyle behaviours that persist into adulthood develop. Interventions during this period promote NCD risk reduction for adolescents and their future offspring. The Healthy Start to Life Education for Adolescents Project (HSLEAP) is a multi-sectoral DOHaD intervention. It utilises adaptable educational programmes within science, and related core learning areas in schools, to support capability-based adolescent empowerment in relation to critical citizenship, DOHaD and NCD risk. An extended mixed-methods approach investigated processes and outcomes associated with application of the HSLEAP model. Individually matched evidence from pre- to 12- months post-intervention was available from students in 30 classes from 10 New Zealand schools and 21 classes from 3 Cook Islands schools. Teacher participation evidence also included work within 24 classes from three Tongan schools. Contextual application of the model promoted engagement in learning and capability development. Participants developed and retained understanding of associations between maternal environmental exposures and offspring health. In contrast, understanding of paternal exposures, not explored in the programmes, was unchanged. Students in both New Zealand and the Cook Islands engaged as science communicators within their families, extending the collaborative narrative initiated in the classroom into their personal lives. A significant proportion of students made and sustained nutritional behaviour changes, offering the potential for NCD risk reduction. Analysis of processes and resourcing enabled understanding of the potential of transformative learning and participatory research to support teachers to integrate HSLEAP programmes into practice. This research identifies structural and philosophical requirements for programmes of this nature, emphasising the essential role of context. It offers transferable evidence to inform future development of education-science partnerships supporting school-based interventions that enable adolescents to engage with and act upon DOHaD evidence.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.Restricted Item. Thesis embargoed until 9/2018. Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/nz/ThesisCopyright: The authorhttp://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccessQ112931985