WHY SHOULD SCHOOL CURRICULUMS HAVE A COMPONENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION?

Schools play a role in instilling a lot of behaviors among students because of the way they are being told impacts the overall learning process.

Parents send their children to the respective schools with a mindset that they will learn about academic subjects such as English, History, Science and Math but they often are not able to recognize the role of health on their academic performances.

Because there is no official link established between the health, health education and academic performance, therefore, it is often overlooked by both parents and schools. But international schools such as American curriculum schools in Dubai and some others have started establishing the link and focused on health education in schools.

Students are overloaded with heavy books and complicated curriculum since the time they have joined kindergarten, but there is a little information regarding the health education. 

Health education gives an opportunity for students to learn about the components of the human body and determinants of health.

So what is health education?

Health Education

Health education refers to the basic concept of learning anything and everything about health which will provide students insight into the importance of health.

The children are continuously growing so incorporating health education will enhance their behaviors. The education will provide the skills ensuring that the children opt for healthy behaviors at an early age. Some people confuse health education with physical activity. However, it is essential to clear out that health education is not all about physical activity but in this setup, students are also taught about stress, anger management, dealing with peer pressure and healthy food behaviors.

Schools which have incorporated health education like American curriculum schools in Dubai can also boost the academic performance because a healthy child will be a more active child and have fast learning pace.

Here are few reasons of why a standard school curriculum should have a health education:

Lifelong Habits

School children are at the age where habits are being built, and anything which is developed at this stage is going to stay there for life. For example, if schools provide the information to students on how to opt for healthy food, then healthy eating habit will develop.

Any insightful health education will result in the reduced link of mental health issues and enhance the emotional health as well as physical health. Once the habits are built, then it is hard to change them later in life so whatever children do in their schools becomes a deciding factor for their health.

Self-Evaluation

Health education will also enable the students to evaluate them and their choices making them aware of their health and lifestyle.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), school health education and educational programs can be one of the most crucial investments in schools which are directly impacting the health of future generations. When a student is aware of their health, then they will be able to make wise choices resulting in better health and wellness in the longer run.

Making healthy decisions will help them take control of their life and improved lifestyle. Several schools such as American curriculum schools in Dubai have taken the initiative of incorporating health education into their curriculum because of the student's health, and wellness comes first.

Reproductive Health Education

One of the reasons why the school should have health education in their curriculum is reproductive health. Most of the students are going through a developing stage which also involves hormonal changes. Regardless of where you live, parents usually are in an awkward position to discuss the puberty and hormonal changes happening at that age.

Often parents also cannot comprehend about the amount of reproductive information child should know at that stage because they consider their child to be too young. At that point, the school can take charge of equipping the child with the right amount of education which is required at that stage. Instead of bringing the element of shyness, teachers should be more open to any question which the student might have come across during that time.

Final Thoughts

A standard curriculum must have health education, and teachers should be more open about it. It will promote a healthy lifestyle and increase the performance of the students when they are mentally and physically healthy.