OVERVIEW OF
HEALTH EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Rationale for Health Education and Physical Education

Research is clear. The healthy, physically active child is more likely to be academically motivated, alert and successful in school and more likely to establish habits of behavior that will foster good health throughout life thereby enhancing the quality of life.

More than twenty-five major reports published recently give a consistent and clear message: children and youth who are physically, emotionally and socially well are better able to benefit from learning experiences provided in school.

Health behaviors, the most important predictors of current and future health status, are influenced by a variety of factors that include awareness and knowledge of health issues, skills necessary to develop healthy behaviors, and opportunities to practice the behaviors.

A major threat to economic competitiveness in our state and in the nation is the health status of the work force. Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; low levels of physical fitness; poor nutrition; accidental injuries; and non-job related stress contribute to lowered health status. Poor worker health status results in loss of work time and increased medical care and insurance costs to treat preventable disease as well as inhibiting the quality of life.

Because health behaviors are learned, they can be shaped and changed. Fostering healthy children is the shared responsibility of families, communities and schools. Planned, sequential, age and developmentally appropriate K-12 curriculum in health education and physical education is necessary for students to become physically educated and health-literate individuals thereby contributing to economic competitiveness and to an enhanced quality of life.

It is the growing belief that any future advances made in improving the nation's health will not result from spectacular biomedical breakthroughs. Rather, advances will result from personally initiated actions that are directly influenced by the individual's health-related attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge. School health education and physical education can make valuable contributions in areas such as these and can play an important role in improving the quality of life.

-American Medical Association, 1990 Health education develops health literacy, "the capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use information and services in ways which are health enhancing." (Joint Committee on Health Education, 1990)

Physical education contributes to the development of a physically educated person who:

• Has learned skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities
• Is physically fit
• Does participate regularly in physical activity
• Knows the implications of and the benefits from involvement in physical activities
• Values physical activity and its contributions to a healthful lifestyle (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 1992)

A Comprehensive School Health Program can play a leading role in enabling students to lead healthy, active lives; now and in the future. The two curricular areas of a Comprehensive School Health Program, health education and physical education, contribute to becoming physically educated and developing health literacy. Quality programs provide students with opportunities to explore concepts in depth, analyze and solve real-life problems, work cooperatively on tasks that develop and enhance their conceptual understanding, and develop physical and social skills necessary for a healthy, active life.

PURPOSE OF FRAMEWORK

The Healthy, Active Living Curriculum Framework is based on the premise that becoming physically educated and developing health literacy in today's complex world is no less important than linguistic, mathematical and scientific literacy. It describes quality health education and physical education curricula that will help students develop a life-long commitment to healthy, active living.

It focuses on educating students regarding the importance of self-responsibility in achieving and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. It also focuses on the total self by addressing the intellectual, social, emotional and physical dimensions in addition to games and sport. It emphasizes health as a value in life and enhances critical thinking, decision making and problem solving skills.

While this framework addresses both health education and physical education, it is not meant to imply that either discipline can replace the other but rather both together can strengthen each other's program. Both disciplines share common purposes and various content-area emphases, particularly in the areas of health-related fitness, nutrition and weight management. Both use similar methodologies that focus on forming and maintaining healthy practices. They also provide the student with unique and fundamental knowledge, behaviors and skills necessary for a healthy, active life.

The most recent research, including the National Physical Education Standards developed by the National Association for Physical Education and Sport and the National Health Education Standards developed by the Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards, was used in developing this document. This document is not a comprehensive curriculum; it is a framework. Local curriculum developers are encouraged to use the above mentioned documents to further enhance their curriculum.

TERMINOLOGY IN THIS FRAMEWORK

Strand: a term used to designate the way the content is organized in this Healthy, Active, Living Curriculum Framework. The five strands are listed in the next section.

Defining Elements: specific topics included in each strand and listed under the title of each strand.

K-12 Content Overview: a description of the content included in each strand.

Grade Ranges: this framework does not address specific grade levels but does address the following grade ranges: K-4, 5-8, 9-12.

Sample Learning Activities: activities that are related to the Show-Me Standards. Educators will recognize that these examples are designed to engage students in learning but are only examples and not all inclusive of learning experiences that could occur in the classroom.. Creative teachers will be able to develop additional learning experiences. Some of the activities apply to more than one "Know" and "Do" statements.

Missouri's Academic Performance Standards: The Outstanding School Act of 1993 required work groups of teacher to identify Academic Performance Standards which define the knowledge and skills that Missouri students should be expected to demonstrate. The Knowledge (content) specific standards are incorporated into the statements of What all Students Should Know. They are referenced at the end of the statements, e.g, (HP I) The Performance (process) standards are referenced by numbers in brackets at the end of the statements of What All Students Should Be Able to Do, e.g. (1.4) refers to Goal 1, Standard 4.

MAJOR ORGANIZING STRANDS

Since the development of the Physical Education Competencies and Key Skills in Missouri Schools in 1987, physical education curricula in most Missouri schools has been organized around the following content or topic areas: Body and Spatial Awareness, Developmental Games/activities, Fundamental Movement Skills, Gymnastics. Personal Fitness/Healthy Lifestyle, Rhythms and Dance, Sports and Lifetime Activity Skills, and Aquatics (if facilities permit)

Since the development of the Comprehensive Health Competencies and Key Skills for Missouri Schools in 1990, health education curricula in most Missouri schools has been organized around the following content or topic areas: Safety and First Aid, Environmental and Community Health, Consumer Health, Disease Prevention and Control, Family Life/Human Sexuality, Nutrition, Personal Health, Mental Health and Substance Use and Abuse

In 1990, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified the following six behaviors that are primary causes of the majority of mortality and morbidity among young people today: behaviors that result in unintentional and intentional injuries, alcohol and other drug use, tobacco use, sexual behaviors that result in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases, imprudent dietary patterns and inadequate physical activity

This framework incorporates the CDC health risk behavior categories as well as the traditional physical education and health education content areas but organizes the topics into the following strands with corresponding defining elements:

I. Functions and Interrelationships of Systems

A. Body Systems
B. Social Systems

II. Health Maintenance and Enhancement

A. Personal and Family Health
B. Nutrition Principles and Practices
C. Consumer Health
D. Life Management Skills

III. Risk Assessment and Reduction

A. Disease Prevention and Control
B. Injury Prevention and Safety
C. Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs (TAOD)
D. Environmental Health

IV. Efficiency of Human Movement and Performance

A. Fundamental Movement Skills and Games
B. Sports Skills and Lifetime Activities
C. Rhythms and Dance
D. Principles of Human Movement

V. Physical Activity and Lifetime Wellness

A. Personal Fitness/Wellness
B. Responsible Personal and Social Behavior in Physical Activity Settings
C. Injury Prevention/Treatment and Rehabilitation

These strands and their defining elements serve as organizers of what Missouri students should know and be able to do. They emphasize the use of knowledge by providing examples which are linked to Missouri's Show-Me Standards. Content is introduced at the lower grade levels, then reinforced and extended at successively higher levels of understanding.

Local curriculum developers will recognize that these strands lend themselves to being taught in an interdisciplinary manner and should decide, based on their staff and student population, where and how the specific content is taught. School districts may choose to continue using the traditional content areas as organizers rather than using the strands in this document. Of utmost importance is that the curriculum meets the needs of the students. Additionally, district curriculum guides need to reflect the emphasis on performance and a relationship to the Show Me Standards.