Research and Resources

Nutrition, family living, personal health, environmental health, injury prevention and safety, consumer and community health, tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, individual growth and development, and communicable and chronic diseases.

Physical activity, individual excellence, self-image and self- realization, physical fitness and wellness, social development and interaction, movement skills and movement knowledge.

Nutritious and appealing meals for all students, U.S. Dietary guidelines and other quality criteria, coordination with health and nutrition education in the classroom, linkages with nutrition-related community services.

Primary health care, diagnosis and management of acute and chronic conditions, preventive health/screenings and assessment, mental health counseling and social services, immunizations.

Broad-based group assessments, interventions and referrals for students, organizational assessments and consultations, social services and referrals that attend to specific needs of students and families.

Safe and healthy physical surroundings, positive psycho-social climate and culture.

Encouragement and motivation or staff to pursue healthy lifestyles, health assessments, health education and health-related fitness activities, positive role-modeling and commitment to the school's comprehensive health program.

Dynamic partnerships between the school, the family and the community, advisory councils, coalitions and broad-based constituencies, community resources and services contribute to the total school health program.

The Health Framework calls for schools, parents, and the community to help young people become "health literate." Health literacy is "the capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services in ways which are health-enhancing" ("Report of the 1990 Joint Committee on Health Education Terminology," Journal of Health Education, Vol. 22, No. 2 [1991], 104). A health-literate person understands scientifically based principles of health promotion and disease prevention, incorporates that knowledge into personal health-related attitudes and behaviors, and makes good health a personal priority. Health-literate individuals develop a growing mastery of knowledge, skills, and behaviors in four key areas critical to healthy living.

Health- literate individuals acknowledge that they have some control over their health, incorporate health-related knowledge into everyday behavior, and make a lifelong commitment to healthy living.

Health-literate individuals understand and acknowledge the effects of personal behavior on the health and well-being of others. In addition, they understand the influence that humankind has on the environment and the ways in which elements within the environment affect the health of groups and individuals. They translate this understanding into concern for the health of others in the family, school, peer group, and community.

Health-literate individuals understand and acknowledge the aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and social growth and development that are common to all people as well as those aspects that are unique to individuals. They respect the dignity of all individuals and recognize that people continue to develop throughout their lives.

Health-literate individuals select and use available health-related information, products, and services carefully and wisely. Being health literate involves the ability to think critically about health-related information and be a selective consumer of health-related services and products.

The Physical Education Framework charts a course in physical education for children in kindergarten through grade twelve. Physical education is much more than team sports.

A comprehensive, articulated physical education system helps children and youths achieve three goals. Within each goal appropriate disciplines are addressed to support the knowledge, skills, and attitudes desired for every student. The three goals are equally important; and each interacts continually with the others in a well-planned program.

Disciplines include:

1. Motor Learning: Development of locomotor and non-locomotor skills, including object manipulation.
2. Biomechanics: Science that examines internal and external forces acting on the body and their effects.
3. Exercise Physiology and Health-related Fitness: Expands the student's knowledge of the physical self through the study of the human body. Students gain an understanding of the importance of developing and maintaining optimum fitness in the areas of cardio-respiratory endurance, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and body composition.