These components work together to develop
and reinforce health-related knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors
and make health an important priority at school. The components are linked
in a mutually supportive, cooperative system focusing on children's health
issues and the development of health literacy. No single component will
achieve the level of health students need to support academic achievement.
A coordinated approach to school health improves students' health and
their capacity to learn through the support of families, schools, and
communities working together.
Schools, families, and communities all have resources for reaching students.
Each can reach students in different ways and influence young people's
behaviors differently. Coordinated School Health is an approach that
brings together the resources of families, schools, and communities to
help students stay healthy and make the most of their educational opportunities.
Reports and studies indicate that various components of coordinated health,
individually or in combination, contribute to:
- improved attendance and fewer dropouts and suspensions
- decreased tobacco use among students and staff
- fewer teenage pregnancies
- increased participation in physical activity
- greater interest in weight control and cholesterol levels
- healthier eating habits
- fewer disciplinary problems
- delayed onset of risky behaviors, such as sexual intercourse and
alcohol and other drug use
|
Health Education
A planned, sequential, K-12 curriculum that addresses the physical,
mental, emotional and social dimensions of health. The curriculum
is designed to motivate
and assist students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease,
and reduce health-related risk behaviors. It allows students to develop
and demonstrate increasingly sophisticated health-related knowledge,
attitudes,
skills, and practices. Comprehensive health education curriculum includes
a variety of topics such as personal health, family health, community
health,
consumer health, environmental health, sexuality education, mental and
emotional health, injury prevention and safety, nutrition, prevention
and control of
disease, and substance use and abuse.
Back to the Top Physical Education
A planned, sequential K-12 curriculum that provides cognitive content and learning
experiences in a variety of activity areas such as basic movement skills;
physical fitness; rhythms and dance; games; team, dual, and individual sports;
tumbling and gymnastics; and aquatics. Quality physical education should
promote, through a variety of planned physical activities, each student's
optimum physical, mental, emotional, and social development, and should promote
activities and sports that all students enjoy and can pursue throughout their
lives.
Back to the Top Health Services
Services provided for students to appraise, protect, and promote health. These
services are designed to ensure access or referral to primary health care
services or both, foster appropriate use of primary health care services,
prevent and control communicable disease and other health problems, provide
emergency care for illness or injury, promote and provide optimum sanitary
conditions for a safe school facility and school environment, and provide
educational and counseling opportunities for promoting and maintaining individual,
family, and community health.
Back to the Top Nutrition Services
Access to a variety of nutritious and appealing meals that accommodate the
health and nutrition needs of all students. School nutrition programs reflect
the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other criteria to achieve nutrition
integrity. The school nutrition services offer students a learning laboratory
for classroom nutrition and health education, and serve as a resource for
linkages with nutrition-related community services.
Back to the Top Counseling
& Psychological Services
Services provided to improve students' mental, emotional, and social health.
These services include individual and group assessments, interventions, and
referrals. Organizational assessment and consultation skills of counselors
and psychologists contribute not only to the health of students but also
to the health of the school environment.
Back to the Top Healthy School Environment
The physical and aesthetic surroundings and the psychosocial climate and culture
of the school. Factors that influence the physical environment include the
school building and the area surrounding it, any biological or chemical agents
that are detrimental to health, and physical conditions such as temperature,
noise, and lighting. The psychological environment includes the physical,
emotional, and social conditions that affect the well-being of students and
staff.
Back to the Top Health Promotion for Staff
Opportunities for school staff to improve their health status through activities
such as health assessments, health education and health-related fitness activities.
These opportunities encourage school staff to pursue a healthy lifestyle
that contributes to their improved health status, improved morale, and a
greater personal commitment to the school's overall coordinated health program.
This personal commitment often transfers into greater commitment to the health
of students and creates positive role modeling. Health promotion activities
have improved productivity, decreased absenteeism, and reduced health insurance
costs.
Back to the Top Family/Community Involvement
An integrated school, parent, and community approach for enhancing the health
and well-being of students. School health advisory councils, coalitions,
and broadly based constituencies for school health can build support for
school health program efforts. Schools actively solicit parent involvement
and engage community resources and services to respond more effectively to
the health-related needs of students.
Back to the Top |
