K-12 Health Education: Helping Students Make Smart Choices that Support their Well-Being

The optimal time to establish and practice good habits that will contribute to a person’s well-being throughout their life is during the formative years that start in childhood and continue into adolescence and their teen years. At each of these life stages, a person will encounter different challenges requiring them to make certain choices which could have a profound effect on their overall happiness and general welfare. Think of it as approaching a “fork in the road.” And when it comes to making personal decisions that will impact the quality of a person’s physical and mental health, there will be many forks along the road to adulthood.

But for a young person to make the right choice, they need to understand the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle and they need guidance instructing them on how they can achieve this goal. The integration of health education as part of a K-12 curriculum in schools can provide this knowledge to students and help them develop healthy behavioral practices that will last a lifetime. Luanne Norden, academic program co-coordinator of the Health and Physical Education Program within the School of Education at George Mason University, recently provided an overview of health education in K-12 schools.

Health education is a curriculum that helps students build health literacy.

Some may ask, ‘What exactly is health education?’ Put simply, health education is teaching students the skills they need to improve their own health and well-being and that of others. Health education taught in schools helps students build health literacy and provides them with the valid and reliable information they need to make healthy choices throughout their lives.

The focus of health education changes as students progress from elementary grades to middle school and high school.

As a student at a K-12 school progresses through grade levels, the health education curriculum will change to align with the main challenges, experiences, and concerns specific to peers within that student’s age group. Health education at the elementary level can set the stage for a lifetime of essential habits, such as eating a nutritious diet, getting enough exercise, practicing personal hygiene, and other health basics. This can establish a solid foundation for positive attitudes and expectations around health for years to come. During the middle and high school years, health education may place greater emphasis on the mental health aspects of well-being. For example, a health education curriculum might address ways in which a student could avoid peer pressure that may lead to unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol or drug use. The curriculum could also include strategies for achieving effective conflict resolution when dealing with a student who is engaging in bullying or other harmful behaviors that negatively impact other students. The health education classroom gives students the opportunity to practice and apply the skills they learn to these types of real-world situations they may encounter.

National Health Education Standards

In March 2024, SHAPE America (the Society of Health and Physical Educators) released revised National Health Education Standards which provide a framework for the development of curricula and instruction aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of students in K-12 schools. The standards seek to “ensure consistency and quality in health education programs nationwide.” Each standard includes a supporting rationale along with performance indicators by grade. The standards address the following aspects of a comprehensive health education curriculum with an emphasis on holistic support of the student:

• Acquiring and using information to support health and well-being of self and others;
• Analyzing internal and external factors that influence health and well-being such as personal values and beliefs, perceived and social norms, family, peers, schools, communities, culture, media and technology, policies, and the environment;
• Identifying, accessing, and evaluating valid and reliable resources to support health and well-being as well as recognizing and managing misinformation within digital and in-person settings;
• Using effective communication skills to strengthen interpersonal interactions, create and maintain relationships, express and interpret messages, and manage conflict;
• Developing skills essential to effective decision-making that will support health and well-being of self and others and improve quality of life;
• Establishing a process to support short and long-term health and well-being goals that includes practices, habits, and routines in daily life;
• Demonstrating health practices and behaviors that promote health and well-being over the lifespan and reduce risk to self and others; and,
• Building skills in advocacy critical to promoting health and well-being within individual, interpersonal, community, societal, and environmental contexts.

To learn more about degree offerings in the Health and Physical Education Program within the School of Education at George Mason University, please visit the program website.