Health and Physical Education Status in Schools - Essay Example

Jacksonville Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation The Importance of Health Promotion And Physical Education In Schools An Assignment Submitted for HPE 508 Research in Health and Physical Education Professor: Dr. Glaucio Scremin By Chantry Gulledge Table of Contents Finally, the problem of time constraint allotted for health and physical education courses are addressed by incorporating certain topics in closely relevant subjects like science, social studies, language or arts, as the case may be. 17 Classes. Journal of Law and Education. Retrieved on April 3, 2009 from 20 Shilstone, M. (2004). The Importance Of Physical Education. Health and Wellness. 21 Retrieved on April 3, 2009 from 21 Introduction Schools are the primary place where children learn. Schools, as educational institutions provide the basic foundations to make choices in life. Epstein in his article, “Why Do We Send Our Children to School averred that “the foundational three "Rs" should empower them to be Righteous, Responsible and Reverent, as well as competitive in the market place.” (Epstein 2008 par. 7) However, school curriculum should not be confined to teaching academic subjects that hone the students’ intellectual skills. The personality and behavior of an individual is developed through absorbing diverse issues that shape their needs, preferences and actions. Individuals do not exist in a nutshell; they interact, relate, and behave in specific manners which eventually affect their health. According to Kolbe (1993 p. 12), “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that most major health problems in the United States today are caused by six categories of behavior: behaviors that lead to intentional and unintentional injuries; smoking; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors leading to sexually transmitted diseases, HIV infection, and unintended pregnancy; poor nutrition; and lack of physical activity”. He further emphasized that “behaviors and attitudes about health that are initiated during childhood are responsible for most of the leading causes of death, illness, and disability in the United States today. Comprehensive school health education programs represent one effective way of providing students with the knowledge and skills to prevent health-impairing behaviors.” (Kolbe 1993 p. 13) The schools’ curriculum should include subjects which promote health and physical education to enforce correct behavioral patterns at a young age and continue this positive reinforcement until adulthood. Therefore, health promotion and physical education in the schools is of critical importance. Statement of the Problem There has been the underlying belief that “if young people (5-18 years) receive basic knowledge about a health issue, they will adopt appropriate health enhancing behaviours. Most school health programs, projects and packages were designed based on this belief. However, research in the last 20 years suggests that the provision of information will lead to behavior change approach is theoretically flawed” (St. Leger 2006 p. iii) This simply means that the basic health and physical education courses that provide theoretical concepts are not enough for the effective enforcement of these subjects in young people. School administrators and local health practitioners are tasked with devising programs to complement the basic health and physical education courses to ensure effectiveness on behavioral attitudes towards the benefits of these issues. It is therefore the objective of this research paper to determine the effectiveness, extent and the value that schools place in incorporating both health and physical education in their curriculum. Research Hypotheses Since the basic theoretical knowledge on health and physical education appears to be insufficient to enforce appropriate behavioral attitudes for health promotion and physical fitness, schools are better off taking these subjects out of their curriculum and delegate these responsibilities to a local health organization. This hypothesis will be validated using the current educational curriculum and measuring its effectiveness in enforcing positive behavioral attitudes of the young. Operational Definitions For purposes of clarifying terms that would be used in this research, the following definitions are pertinent, to wit: Health promotion has been defined in several researches differently. The World Health Organization (1986) defines health promotion as “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health”. In a book written by Green and Kreuter (1991) entitled Health promotion planning: An education and environmental approach, health promotion is defined as “any combination of health education and related organization, economic and environmental supports for behavior conducive to health and well-being.” Finally, Raeburn and Rootman (1998) claimed that “health promotion is concerned with positive health and well-being; with the whole of life… involving a complex notion of health to include bodily, mental, social and spiritual states… and which (health promotion) occurs incrementally over time… linked to everyday life and community and is about changing the balance of power in the human and health domain”. From these definitions, one can deduce that the relative importance of health promotion is its ability to support a positive behavior needed for a balanced life conducive for promoting the well being of an individual and one’s relation to society as a whole. Physical education, on the other hand, is a mandatory course promoting physical activity and sports mostly from grades 1 to 6. The objectives of physical education classes are teaching to ensure physical fitness, promoting regular exercises, and presenting nutrition and health subjects. Assumptions This research paper is conducted using secondary sources such as books, journals, web sources on the subject of health promotion and education, as well as physical education in the United States. Some theoretical issues and concerns are true and relevant globally, though the applications differ depending on states and countries. Limitations The discourse of this study is limited to the importance that health and physical education courses accord to the young through the curriculum provided in their respective schools. The topic on health, per se, is broad and has several sub topics relating to medical concerns. Physical education, on the other hand, also encompasses diverse topics that discuss sports, physical activities, exercises, and even nutrition. This essay would present the importance of incorporating these courses in the curriculum of schools in the United States and measure the effectiveness in enforcing positive behavioral attitude to prevent health crisis in one’s lifetime. Significance of the Study The study would validate the hypothesis stipulated herein. With a comprehensive presentation of research studies made on the importance of health and physical education, its promotion and utilization for prevention of diseases, conclusive evidence would be indicated to confirm if indeed, there still is a necessity to continue the mandatory incorporation of health and physical education in the schools’ curriculum. Literature Review The topic of health and physical education is rich and diverse. There are a multitude of sources that promote health education and emphasize the value of physical activity. In a research written by Gold and Seffrin on comprehensive school health education, the value of health education to preventing vices and unconventional behavior has been emphasized. They averred that “hundreds of studies have evaluated health education and concluded that it is effective in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies, decreasing smoking rates among young people, and preventing the adoption of many high-risk behaviors. But its effectiveness depends upon factors such as teacher training, comprehensiveness of the health program, time available for instruction, family involvement, and community support”. (Gold, 1994; Seffrin, 1990) The significance of behavioral patterns were identified in Delaune and Ladner’s book in Fundamentals of Nursing (2006). Gray, Young & Barnekow (2006) discussed factors which influence an individual to act in relation to health perceptions. Finally, Kolbe (1993) validated the concept that behavioral factors plays an important part in reinforcing health and physical education attitudes and patterns which shape their actions in the future. The US Dept. of Health and Human Services (US DHHS 2002) conducted a study which presented evidence that to support that physical activity is fundamental to preventing disease. Their research delved on topics such as the economic consequences of inactivity, the relation of physical activity and good physical and mental health, its role for maintaining energy balance and a healthy weight, and the epidemic of overweight and obesity, among others. In addition, in a related topic, physical activity and health, the US DHHS, enumerated direct effects of physical activity to improve the health condition of an individual. Health and Physical Education Status in Schools A relevant subsection to literature review on the subject of health and physical education in the school curriculum is a discussion of a committee which oversees and regulates standards for health enforcement in schools, the Joint Committee for National School Health Education Standards (1995). “The committees goal was to emphasize the need for school health education and create a framework for local school boards to use in determining content of the health curriculum in their communities. There are seven broad standards that promote health literacy, which 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”. (Joint Committee, 1995, p. 5) The article written by Summerfield (2006) provided relevant information on national standards for health education and the topics which should form part of the health curriculum, of which physical activity is one. Effectiveness of Health Indicators To measure the effectiveness of health and physical education courses in schools, St. Ledger (2006) presented a comprehensive study on what indicators have been identified for this purpose. Research Results Importance of Health Promotion Gray, Young & Barnekow (2006, p. 15) in their article on developing a health promoting school appropriately discussed that the initial phase for promoting health is to determine behavioral patterns, to wit: Peoples’ health is not primarily determined by their knowledge, but that beliefs, emotions and their social environment are at the root of behaviors affecting their health. People choose whether to look after their health through, for example sensible eating, taking appropriate physical activity and avoiding harmful substances. However, whether they take these actions is influenced by other factors such as; Read More