Health education builds students' knowledge, skills and positive attitudes about health. Health education teaches about physical, mental, emotional and social health. It motivates students to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease and reduce risky behaviors.
Economic hard times require hard choices. We all know that. Maine schools, faced with further state and federal budget cuts are preparing to make some nearly impossible choices. We all want what is best for the students and residents of our communities, but in times like these that can be hard to define.
Why should we care about health education? Health education builds students' knowledge, skills and positive attitudes about health. Health education teaches about physical, mental, emotional and social health. It motivates students to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease and reduce risky behaviors.
Without basic health literacy, societies are at a huge disadvantage both economically and culturally. It may seem like a stretch to compare Maine communities to those in poorer or developing countries where knowledge about health and healthcare are not as widespread as in the U.S., but ask yourself, where did you learn about health and how to be healthy?