Schools are an important setting for health promotion and offer a comprehensive, sustainable and efficient way to reach children and adolescents (Langford et al., 2015). At the same time, digital media can offer a contemporary way to promote student health in physical education (Knoke et al., 2024). Current research suggests that digital media can promote physical activity through self-monitoring (Creaser et al., 2021), and can also help increase activity through personalized feedback and increased motivation (Gil-Espinosa et al., 2022). Furthermore, real-time feedback of wearables can increase users' awareness of their health parameters and likely promote both motivation and an understanding of their personal health data (Stiglbauer et al., 2019).

Despite these benefits, several barriers, including limited access to technological resources, insufficient training, lack of institutional support, time constraints for effective implementation, and concerns regarding data protection, are hindering the integration of digital tools into physical education (Saiz-González et al., 2024).

The aim of this intervention study is to determine whether digital media can effectively improve health literacy in physical education. Therefore, this study investigates the effectiveness of a digital media-based intervention to improve health literacy in physical education with tablets and wearables. The intervention is based on Nutbeam's (2000) three-level model of health literacy and includes functional, interactive and critical dimensions of health literacy.

A quasi-experimental intervention study will be conducted in six German schools. Participating school classes will be recruited through an appeal to schools and teachers and will take part in the study on a voluntary basis. The experimental group will participate in digitally enriched physical education lessons that use tablets with interactive apps and instructional videos, and wearables for self-monitoring, while the control group will follow a traditional curriculum without digital media. The intervention follows a structured approach that includes theoretical inputs, practical sessions with wearables for real-time feedback, health education videos, and reflective discussions on the interpretation of health data and self-monitoring. Students are encouraged to track their activity levels and critically evaluate digital health information. Health literacy will be assessed before and after the intervention using standardized questionnaires (based on the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16) by Sørensen et al. (2013)) and supplemented by qualitative focus group interviews with an expected 12 students and 6 physical education teachers to evaluate the intervention. Quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS, while qualitative data will undergo qualitative content analysis.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of digital media in improving health literacy in physical education and thus promoting the health of students. It is expected that students in the intervention group will demonstrate higher health literacy, mediated by digital media, experience an increase in motivation for physical activity, and strengthen awareness of personal health data. In addition, it is expected that students will develop stronger critical evaluation skills for digital health information. However, challenges are also expected, such as lack of time, technological barriers, limited physical activity due to the use of the devices, and the need for professional development in teacher training. For successful and sustainable implementation, schools need to invest in digital infrastructure and teachers require specialized training in digital health promotion. Furthermore, a targeted training program for physical education teachers in Germany will be developed and evaluated based on the results.

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