Health Education

Abstract

Numerous reports and studies have touted the benefits of school health education for over five decades and extensive public health data support an association between education levels and health outcomes. This paper recounts the "tacit" approval given to school health education historically by reviewing reports issued by various governmental and nongovernmental organizations from the 1960s to the present. Whereas these reports and studies demonstrate an influence on the status of modern school health education programs, many of the barriers to effective school-based programs described 50 or more years ago continue to be challenges for school health education advocates. Additional elements that may further impact the delivery and of quality of school health education negatively in the next decade include legislation that places pressure on schools to improve students' performance on subject areas that do not include health; a declining tax base for funding education programs in general; the deterioration or complete disappearance of school health education professional preparations programs; and evolving technology that alter the ways in which students learn.Mayer AB, Smith BJ, McDermott RJ. Health education: always approved but still not always on schools' radar. Am J Health Educ. 2011;42(6):349-359.

What We Know, What We Do and What We Could Do: Creating an Understanding of the Delivery of Health Education in Lower Secondary Government Schools in Western Australia

“…It extends previous research in Australia conducted by Shilton, McBride, Cameron and Hall (1995) that collected data on the curriculum time allocated to Physical Education (PE) and HE in WA. Like other similar international studies (Kann, Brener, & Allensworth, 2001;Lohrmann, 2011;Mayer, Smith, & McDermott, 2011), while Shilton et al noted issues with regard to the qualifications of the teachers delivering HE in the schools studied, they did not confirm the qualifications of the teachers through data. This evidence gap was central to this study, particularly as further research (Beckett, 1990;Ridge et al, 2002;Ryan et al, 2012) and government declarations in Australia (Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008) have recognised the significance of the teacher to enhance healthy citizenry.…”

“…Globally, scholars have raised concerns that in-school delivery of HE that lacks opportunities to develop skills, presents largely reactive, rather than proactive and/or preventive education (Begoray, Wharf-Higgins, & MacDonald, 2009;Fetro, 2010;Lynagh, Gilligan, & Handley, 2010;Mayer, Smith & McDermott, 2011;McBride, Cameron, Midford, & James, 1995;Peterson, Cooper, & Laird, 2001;Rowling, Booth, & Nutbeam, 1998). Teacher education is identified as crucial to advance a preventive health approach.…”

A Descriptive Study of Marijuana Prevention Education in Public Middle and High Schools in Southeastern Colorado

“…Despite the existence of the NHES and the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool, school health education programs continue to vary widely from state to state and district to district—a likely product of varying requirements and provision of resources for the inclusion of such education. Nationally, although 49 states have adopted health education standards for public education, nearly half fail to align fully with the NHES, and 56.9% and 17.7% do not give time requirements for meeting these standards for middle and high school education, respectively (Vu, 2012)—a political move Mayer, Smith, and McDermott (2011) call “tacit” approval for health education.…”

Improving adolescents’ dietary behavior through teacher-delivered cancer prevention education: a school-based cluster randomized intervention trial in urban Rajasthan

“…During this phase, adolescents develop knowledge and skills, form own ideas and habits, and is considered as a perfect time to deliver the intervention to them [ 12 , 13 ]. Schools serve as potential target to plan and implement behavior change communication strategies as they have the capability and the necessary tools to provide a positive impact on students’ health [ 14 ]. Teachers have played role of key players for bringing cognitive and behavioral changes aiming to promote healthy lifestyle in the society and have proven effective [ 15 , 16 ].…”