A Madrasa is a supplementary school which operates outside of normal school-hours where children learn Islamic teachings. Ninety one percent of Muslim children in Bradford attend a Madrasa most days of the week, most of these are from ethnic minority groups with the lowest levels of physical activity.
The Healthy Madrasas intervention aims to change individual and organisational behaviour and address local structural and systematic drivers of physical inactivity and obesity to improve the health and wellbeing of Muslim children.
The intervention spans 2.5 years, with two phases: intensive support (2 years) and light-touch support (6 months).
There are four key elements to the intervention: 1) a local delivery organisation (in Bradford this organisation is called Faith in Communities) that links madrasas into the wider local system (e.g., community centres for access to space, local authority to influence on green space developments and active travel, health providers to deliver health promotion activities) and enables them access to funding and resources 2) Community Engagement Managers with shared cultural and religious values that engage and train the madrasas and support the delivery of the intervention within the setting, 3) a trained Health Group formed from people within each setting that delivery activities and ensure sustainability of health promotion activities 4) a culturally relevant toolkit of healthy lifestyle activities (e.g. physical activity and diet) supported by Islamic narratives that motivates involvement, and allows madrasas to tailor activities to their needs.
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