Health Supports
Coordinated school health supports (e.g., counseling, school nurse, and nutrition and fitness courses) are an important component of a comprehensive school plan to close the achievement gap. Most adolescents face new health challenges as they enter puberty, face peer pressure, and cope with physical, emotional, and social changes. Students often come to school without medical care, reading glasses, or support for emotional or mental health problems. When the family cannot address these issues, schools and community groups must step in before the health problems affect attendance and learning.
Researchers find that there is a correlation between education and long-term health. In one study, the researchers suggested that increasing levels of education lead to different thinking and decision-making patterns that increase the likelihood of greater health.1 Thus, addressing health so that students can learn will affect their health as an adult and possible job prospects, both of which affect the economic health of the community.
Comprehensive school health addresses many aspects of student life that ultimately affect the community:
- Obesity and its effects cost millions of health care dollars annually. Prevention is much less expensive than intervention.
- Asthma-related breathing problems at school could lead to many days of missed school.
- Many students have allergies and other chronic conditions that require them to take medications that affect performance. Many of those medications must be locked in the school office for safety reasons.
- Diabetes, autism, and other chronic conditions affect increasing numbers of students.
- Mental health issues, such as depression, suicidal thoughts, grief, and anxiety, affect many adolescents, influencing their ability to study.
- Drugs, alcohol, and sex become important topics that affect adolescents. For example, teachers need information about “new” kinds of drugs such as exhalants. The computer dust removal sprays that students use for quick highs hold risks for health complications and death.
In the Spotlight
Gaspar De Portola Middle School, San Diego Unified School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage 2006 Model School
The school nurse employs “Diagnostic Dog” as her assistant. The trained dog cuddles sick students and ignores those who are well, thus saving on missed class time for those looking for an excuse to avoid work.
Reyburn Intermediate School, Clovis Unified School District
To ensure that health problems do not go undiagnosed, Reyburn hosts group physicals at the school.
Related Links
- Adolescent and School Health (Outside Source), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (Outside Source)
- California Department of Public Health (Outside Source)
- California Healthy Kids Resource Center (Outside Source)
- California Healthy Kids Survey Reports, California Department of Education.
- California School Health Centers Association (Outside Source)
- Center for Research on Adolescent Health and Development (Outside Source)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Outside Source)
- Exploring Essential Components: Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Young Adolescent (Outside Source), National Middle School Association.
- Getting Results: Developing Safe and Healthy Kids Update 3: Alcohol, Tobacco, Other Drug Use, and Violence Prevention: Research Update (PDF; 813KB; 73pp.), California Department of Education.
- Health, California Department of Education.
- Health and Wellness, (Outside Source), National Middle School Association.
- Health education, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- Health Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 2MB; 264pp.), California Department of Education.
- Instructional Materials, California Department of Education.
- Learning Support, California Department of Education.
- Physical Education Model Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 2MB; 72pp.), California Department of Education.
- Success Stories, (Outside Source), National Middle School Association.
- Wellness Policy Resources, (Outside Source), National Middle School Association.
- Youth Development, California Department of Education.
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Footnote
1David M. Cutler and Adriana Lleras-Muney, Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence (Outside Source), NBER Working Paper No. 12352 (July 2006).
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