Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

210 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education
for health education should address, therefore, a wide array of topics, every year, that
developmentally built the skills and habits of mind needed to cope with divergent
needs and evolving circumstances related to health and well - being. Health education,
like other subjects offered in school, should prepare young people to be lifelong,
autonomous, and responsible learners and as such represent an important area of study
related to human development.
Later, Comprehensive Health Programs sought to include health services and
school environments — hallways, playgrounds, cafeterias — that were considered
equally important for children ’ s and youths ’ health. Perhaps the classic example of
incongruence between health education and school environments has been the tension
between nutrition education aimed at promoting healthy food choices and the sale of
junk food in vending machines and school fund - raising campaigns. Unless the “ school ”
is committed to healthy eating the effects of the health education program are
undermined.
In the United States, the Journal of School Health (1987) dedicated a special issue
to comprehensive school health programs featuring an article by Allensworth and
Kolbe, which proposed eight components of a comprehensive program:
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Health education
Physical education
Health services
Nutrition services
Counseling, psychological, and social services
Healthy school environment
Health promotion for staff
■ Parent/community involvement
Clearly, the responsibility for health promotion has been broadened and enriched
to involve a wide spectrum of services and supports. With strong support from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this model, like the Canadian model has
endured. In 1995 the word coordinated replaced comprehensive because people tended
to confuse comprehensive school health programs with comprehensive school Health
Education (instruction) and felt that the term comprehensive might discourage an
overburdened education system from implementing the model.
The Term “ Coordinated School Health ” Now Predominates
in the United States
At the heart of each school health promotion model are a number of principles which
serve as a moral compass for decisions about the purpose, structure, and engagement
of people within organizations, institutions, and programs of study. These principles