What is school health?
Children spend about six hours a day in school, so school is a very good place to protect health. School health is everything a school does to keep its children, teachers and staff healthy in body and mind.
It has two parts:
- School health management: the services and rules that keep the school healthy.
- Health education: lessons and activities that teach children how to look after themselves.
School health management: services
A school health team may include a doctor or nurse (often visiting), a health teacher (in Japan called the yogo teacher), class teachers, the principal and parents. Their main jobs:
- Health check-ups (screening): height, weight, eyesight, hearing, teeth, skin, signs of anaemia. The aim is to find problems early.
- Follow-up and referral: tell parents and send the child to a clinic or hospital. Check later that treatment happened.
- Immunisation (vaccines): check records and remind parents of missed vaccines.
- First aid and emergencies: a first-aid box, a trained person, and a plan to reach a hospital fast.
- Infectious disease control: send sick children home, tell the health office when many fall ill, clean shared surfaces.
- Mental health support: a caring adult to talk to, help for stress, bullying and exam worry.
- Health records: each child's results are saved privately and used to plan help.
A healthy and safe school environment
The place itself must not make children ill. A healthy school has safe drinking water, clean toilets with soap and water, enough light and fresh air in classrooms, desks of the right size, a safe playground, clean kitchens and lunch areas, and safe stairs and gates. Water and toilets matter because many stomach infections spread through dirty water and unwashed hands.
Health education
Health education helps children learn three things: what keeps them healthy (knowledge), why it matters (attitude), and how to do it every day (habit). Knowing is not enough: many children know that sweets cause tooth decay and still eat too many. So good lessons use activities, not only talk.
Common topics: hand washing (rub with soap for about 20 seconds), balanced food, sleep (about 9 to 11 hours for school-age children), at least 60 minutes of activity a day, tooth care, road and fire safety, staying away from tobacco and drugs, growing up and puberty, feelings and friendship.
How health education is taught
Children learn best by doing. Teachers use role-play, posters made by students, demonstrations (how to wash hands properly), group discussion, school health clubs and campaigns. The school also sets an example: if the canteen sells healthy food, the lesson and the school agree with each other.
Try it yourself
- In the 3D, press the three buttons one by one and see how the score changes. Which one alone gives the most? (They each add the same, so you need all three.)
- At home, time your hand washing. Sing a short song twice (about 20 seconds). Do you usually wash that long?
- Look at your own school. Find one healthy thing (clean tap, airy room) and one thing to improve. Tell your teacher politely.
Key formulas and definitions
- Key idea: Check + Follow-up + Clean place + Educate = healthy school
- Screening = looking for problems in children who seem well
- Referral = sending a child with a problem to a doctor or clinic
- Health education = knowledge + attitude + habit
- Hand washing: soap + water, about 20 seconds
- Activity: at least 60 minutes a day; sleep: about 9 to 11 hours (school age)
Worked examples
1. A school checks 40 children. 6 have poor eyesight and 4 have tooth decay (no child has both). How many children need follow-up, and what percent is that?
Children with a problem = 6 + 4 = 10. Percent = 10 / 40 × 100 = 25%. So 10 children (25%) need referral and a check that they were treated.
2. A child weighs 30 kg and is 1.30 m tall. Find the BMI and say how a school health team should use it.
BMI = weight / height² = 30 / (1.30 × 1.30) = 30 / 1.69 ≈ 17.8 kg/m². For children, BMI is compared with an age-and-sex growth chart, not with adult cut-offs. If the child is outside the healthy range on the chart, the team advises food and activity changes and may refer the child.
3. Five children in one class have vomiting and loose motions today. List four sensible actions for the school.
1) Send the sick children home or to the health room and tell parents. 2) Tell the health office, because a group of cases may be an outbreak. 3) Check the drinking water and the lunch kitchen. 4) Re-teach and supervise hand washing with soap; clean toilets and shared surfaces.
Common mistakes
- Thinking school health is only the yearly doctor visit. It is also clean surroundings, first aid, records and lessons.
- Stopping after the check-up. Without follow-up the child's problem stays.
- Believing health education is finished when children know the facts. It must change habits.
- Treating health records as public. They are private to the child, parents and the health team.