Someday, I look forward to being an elementary teacher. I know at some point I will run across the question, what is true health? After many years of health education I have discoved what health encompasses. "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."(World Health Organization) The basic fundamentals that I believe are essential to living a balanced healthy life are: to live spiritually, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and nutritionally well. All of these must be taught to our children so they can live a balanced healthy life. The question here is, how can we, as teachers, incorporate a health curriculum that is the most effective? .
Studies have concluded that educational strategies have helped improved health standards. For example, a 2000 Surgeon General's report, Reducing Tobacco Use, concludes that "educational strategies, conducted in conjunction with community- and media-based activities, can postpone or prevent smoking onset in 20 to 40 percent of adolescents." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1996 Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating indicate that "school-based nutrition education can improve the eating behaviors of young persons." It has been said that many students graduate from high school knowing how to prove geometry theorems, but not how to plan a nutritious diet. Many students who go to college with high SAT scores can't cope with the stress of being in a new and difficult situation. So we ask, how can we deter people away from unhealthy lifestyles? Through proper methodology. (Allensworth).
Health literacy is defined by the American Cancer Society as, "Health literacy is the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services in ways which enhance health.