“Health is wealth.”
We often hear the elderlies uttered this golden statement about health. According to them, you’ll never get the chance to explore and enjoy the world around you if your health is taken away from you. It is therefore important that every individual, young as they are, is well aware on how to take care of himself or herself should the situation happens.
But, taking health education to the formal school and academe, is it really important? Will the students benefit from the program? Will the educators gain from this curriculum? Why should we care and appreciate?
Why should I care about Health education?
Health education builds students’ knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes about health. Health education teaches about physical, mental, emotional and social health. It motivates students to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease, and reduce risky behaviors. Health education curricula and instruction help students learn skills they will use to make healthy choices throughout their lifetime. Effective curricula result in positive changes in behavior that lower student risks around: alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, injury prevention, mental and emotional health, nutrition, physical activity, prevention of diseases and sexuality and family life.
Health education promotes learning in other subjects! One study showed that reading and math scores of third and fourth grade students who received comprehensive health education were significantly higher than those who did not. In general, healthy students learn better. Numerous studies have shown that healthier students tend to do better in school. They have higher attendance, have better grades, and perform better on tests.
A good state of the body is consistent with a good state of the mind. If a part of the whole isn’t functioning well, the other parts might be affected. A healthy mind will yield a healthy perspective thus resulting to a better and excellent learner.
Health education in school creates and raise awareness not just with the administration and the educators but with the students and their families as well. By being a generalist, or knowing a little and basic of proper health hygiene, we can be assured that student ps will perform better in schools and will become more productive.
By: Aileen L. Lumaban | Teacher III | Limay Nationahl High School | Limay, Bataan
