health education is defined as the “continuing process of informing people how to achieve and maintain good health; of motivating them to do so; and of promoting environmental and lifestyle changes to facilitate their objective (Looking Toward 2000).
The American health care education industry encompasses the products and services offered by a multitude of individuals and organizations. Any individual or organization that makes available services or products which contribute to health maintenance or health improvement is a provider of health care and education.
However, even though America has become a health-conscious nation and we are aware of the importance of nutrition and exercise in our lives, many of us still smoke, eat junk food, have extra flab around our middle, and spend too much of our lives as couch potatoes. This description fits too many adolescents as well as adults.
2. Why is Health education important to maintain and promote in schools? (Cite case studies and health programs that worked).
It is important to maintain and promote Health Education in schools because students often reach a level of health, strength and energy they never will match during the remainder of their lives. They also have a sense of uniqueness and invulnerability that leads them to think that illness and disorder will not enter their lives.
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... for contagious diseases. Besides that, health education also encourages and individual to maintain a balanced diet. A balanced ... health education is defined as a social science that draws from the biological, environmental, psychological, physical and medical sciences to promote health ... and hence the entire nation. Health education indefinitely improves the quality of life for many people as well ...
Most adolescents believe that they will live forever and recoup any lost health or modify any bad habits they might develop. Given this combination of physical and cognitive factors, adolescents still have poor health habits. Thus, it is essential that Health Education be always emphasized in schools.
One comprehensive health approach that includes an attempt to curb cigarette smoking by adolescents was developed by clinical psychologist Cheryl Perry and her colleagues (1988).
Three programs were developed based on peer group norms, healthy role models and social skills training. Elected peer leaders were trained as instructors. In seventh grade, adolescents were offered “Keep It Clean,” a six-session course emphasizing the negative effects of smoking.
In eighth grade, students were involved in “Health Olympics,” an approach that included exchanging greeting cards on smoking and health with peers in other countries. In ninth grade, students participated in “Shifting Gears,” which included six sessions focused on social skills. In the social skills program, students critiqued media messages and created their own positive health videotapes.
At the same time as the school intervention, a community-wide smoking cessation program, as well as a diet and health awareness campaign, were initiated. After 5 years, students who were involved in the smoking and health program were much less likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana, or drink alcohol than their counterparts who were not involved in the program.
3. Why Health Education should not be removed from Wellsville High School
It is important not to remove Health Education at this school because students must know important principles in health education especially the right kinds of foods to eat and how to properly take care of their bodies. Experts say that with the rising health “we are essentially subsidizing the food industry to peddle junk food to kids”. This is not that easy though since regulation is not an ideal solution. Multi-national corporations like Unilever, Pepsi and Coke had all voluntarily changed their products and practices to respond to clamor for growing health concerns.
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School activities are very important for the students and for the school. For the students, because they gain new skills and motivation. It’s a real chance for them to enjoy school and choose to do something they are really interested and passionate about, and therefore their motivation for learning and their motivation for their teachers and the school increase. It makes them relate ...
There was the pressure on them to do their own regulation in coming up with better, healthier foods. It was even revealed that Unilever was asked to reduce trans-fatty acids in their products. Unilever’s response was dramatic. It eliminated them altogether. On the other hand, Dr. Marion Nestle feels that poor nutrition is the ultimate reason for obesity. Diets lacking calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients tremendously affect the weight gain or loss of a teen’s fat cells. Dr. Bedell, agrees with the findings.”
Any family below the poverty level has an incredible amount of outside stress,” she said.” If there’s no education of nutrition, it’s a matter of surviving emotionally and physically.” (Gard MC, 1996).
Students at Wellsville High School need to be properly informed about health issues and misperceptions about health. While the students may usually recognize that behaviors such as substance abuse and other health abuse activities are potential health hazards, they often underestimate the potentially negative consequences of these behaviors. They also anticipate, sometimes incorrectly that the risks associated with certain behaviors will decrease, as they get older.
Crash diets for the obese are often counterproductive. Severe dietary restrictions can interfere with the development of the brain, muscles and bones early in life and they may feel deprived and be inclined to partake in binge eating. Some nutritional experts maintain that behavioral programs for the obese are needed in order to address these problems.
The statistics show the fact that the average teenager watches approximately 22,000 commercials – 5,000 of them for food products, the majority of which are high-sugar, high-calorie, and low-nutrition items. Research indicates that 67 percent of Saturday morning commercials are for sugared cereals, candy bars, and other sweets. Only 3 percent of TV food ads are for fruits and vegetables (Medical News Today).
The many varied observations on eating and obesity that have been made with animal subjects since the 1940s have recently inspired psychologists and physiologists to make novel observations on human subjects. In a research, investigators studied extremely obese persons who were hospitalized to reduce their weights. Given a bland unappealing liquid diet, the obese people readily cut their caloric intake and lost weight.
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Today we are relishing the ambrosial taste of the modern scientific technology and applications. Science and technologies are in the part of all human activities, from the houses that we live in, the food we eat, the cars we drive, and to the electronic gadgetry in almost every home that we use to remain informed and entertained. These all evidences show the blessings of scientific knowledge on ...
Normal subjects when given the same diet maintained their caloric intake and kept their weight up. When the formerly obese individuals left the hospital and reentered the world of attractive cues to eating, they all became obese again. Thus, the obese seems to be stimulus-bound; that is, they are strongly influenced by external stimuli but they are relatively unaffected by cues arising from within their own bodies.
The United States has experienced dramatic increases in obesity among teenagers. There is a pressing need for innovative interventions to prevent obesity. There has been widespread speculation that television viewing might be one of the most easily modifiable causes of obesity among teens. A lot of experiments are now going on to help curb obesity by using the medium of television (Robinson, 1999).
In the end, adolescents’ health involves far more than trips to a doctor when sick and treatments for disease. Researchers are becoming increasingly aware that adolescents’ behavior determines whether they will develop a serious illness or whether they will be healthy (Minkler, 1989).
It is not surprising, therefore, that health psychologists and behavioral medicine specialists believe that the next major step in improving the general health of American adolescents will be primarily behavioral, not medical.
REFERENCES
Gard MC, Freeman CP, (1996), The dismantling of a myth: a review of eating disorders
and socioeconomic status. Int J Eat Disord (1996), 20(1):1-12.
Looking Toward 2000 – State Health Assessment. Retrieved Oct. 6, 2006 at:
http://www.dph.state.ct.us/OPPE/sha99/glossary.htm#H
Medical News Today, (13 May 2004 ).
10% of the world’s children are overweight or obese and the figures are rising 13 May 2004 , Article Retrieved Oct. 6, 2006 at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=8277
The Essay on Overweight And Obesity Children Health Physical
... as. Overweight and obesity affect about 23% of children and adolescents in the United States, with 6% being obese. 1 This figure ... for children and adolescents will improve population health and well being overall. The overarching cause of the obesity epidemic is ... beliefs regarding eating and activity, 10 involve population-wide health promotion messages, and dispel myths such as children's overweight ...
