Love Your Liver: Awakening the silent organ in students' minds

Thirty million people, including children, have liver disease in the U.S. While the liver is discussed in science classes, it is often unintentionally overlooked in health education curriculums. The American Liver Foundation's education program, Love Your Liver (LYL), teaches students about the liver, its functions, and disease prevention. LYL achieves its learning objectives with an engaging lecture, interactive activities, and evaluation components. Every program has an activity, such as Liver Trivia, that enables students to demonstrate what they learned. Nearly all (99%) of school faculty reported LYL was informative and 97% reported that LYL was age-appropriate and engaging. Since its inception in October 2008, LYL has reached nearly 50,000 students nationwide though 922 programs. Over one-third (34%) were aged 12-14, 33% were 15-17, 18% were 9-11, 13% were 6-8, 1% was under 6 years, and 1% was 18 and older; 46% were Caucasian, 23% were African American, 21% were Latino, 7% were Asian American/Pacific Islander, and 3% were of other ethnic backgrounds. Based on evaluation forms, 90% of students rated LYL as excellent or very good. Change in knowledge is measured on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). Prior to a LYL program, average participant knowledge was 2.19 and increased by 93% afterward. Middle school students had the least knowledge increase (83% increase, baseline 2.65) while high school students had the greatest (110% increase, 2.01 baseline). Providing age-appropriate curriculum increases youth's understanding and knowledge of liver health. Liver health education is a critical component to preventing liver disease.