Lessons learned from health education in Japanese schools.

Abstract

A qualitative improvement in school health education is required to improve health for school-aged children in developing countries. This study aimed to clarify the factors that enable the provision of comprehensive and consistent health education in Japan. We reviewed health education in Japanese schools and the feature of curriculum revision, and clarified the factors that enable the provision of comprehensive and consistent health education. We identified nine points as enabling factors: (i) clear description of the purpose of health education; (ii) clear provision of teaching content and adequate time allocation; (iii) comprehensive school health framework and clarification of the position of the health education; (iv) systems for surveying and screening children's health problems; (v) regular revising of the Courses of Study; (vi) well trained teachers responsible for health education; (vii) health education specialists in higher education facilities; (viii) various materials related to health education; and (ix) collaboration with related health workers. We proposed measures to enhance health education in developing countries: (i) clarifying the role of health education toward achieving goals set out in laws and policies related to education; (ii) providing appropriate learning content and time allocation; (iii) establishing a comprehensive school health framework; (iv) establishing a system that continuously monitors children's health issues; (v) identifying the person responsible for health education in a school and establishing a training system; (vi) providing a teacher's guide and teaching materials to facilitate child participatory learning, and (vii) collaborating with guardians, community members, and local health workers.