Attitudes of Bulgarian students toward the introduction of health education as a new discipline in the high school curriculum

Abstract

Introduction: Health Education as a school subject presents to high-school students knowledge about health and develops attitudes for responsible health behaviors. The school system is the second-best place, after the family, where children are be socialized and educated. Health promotion is an effective method to improve or change our health-related lifestyles. The aim of this study was to research the attitudes and opinions among school students in Bulgaria toward having Health Education as an additional subject in their school curriculum. Materials and Methods: Existing health education frameworks and programs for students were researched. Existing data on the state of children’s well-being and health attitudes among students in Bulgaria were studied using official policy and normative documents. New data were collected via a survey among school students in Bulgaria from diverse locales. In total, 720 students participated in the survey, aged 9 to 19, from the 5th to the 12th grades. The students were asked to fill in a questionnaire developed by the first author. The collected data were analyzed with statistical tools and conclusions were drawn based on the results. Results: Results from the survey show that a healthy lifestyle is quite popular among young people. Overall, they trust the information given by healthcare specialists and health institutions. Health issues are discussed formally in school several times during the school year. The students think that a new Health Education subject would be very useful and they would take part in the classes, especially if healthcare specialists present the subject. The study shows Health Education is most desired and needed by the students in the 7th grade (14 years of age). Conclusion: Existing studies show that health education in Bulgaria is still far away from what should be expected. Only the students from the largest cities are well-informed about health and healthy behaviors. Furthermore, Bulgarian youth consistently report poor health behaviors and low health status. On the other hand, in this study children underscored the importance of health education and reported high motivation to broaden their health-related knowledge.