Parental perceptions of the roles of home and school in health education for elementary school children in Finland

Abstract

A variety of legislation, initiatives and organizations exist to support, encourage and even oblige schools to collaborate more effectively with parents or guardians. However, there is minimal understanding of the experiences and opinions of parents and school staff about their roles, especially in relation to children's health education. This study examined how parents of 10-11-year-old children perceive the roles of both home and school in educating children about health. A questionnaire, based partly on the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education, was administered to 348 parents; the response rate was 53%. Factor analysis was used to define sum variables, which were then used as dependent variables in an analysis of variance examining the effects of children's gender and health; parents' education, gender, work status and year of birth; and school location (urban/rural). The results suggested that parents considered that either health education was mainly their responsibility, or it was a mutual responsibility with the school. Parents living in rural areas and the youngest group of parents were more likely to consider that health education should be shared with schools than were parents living in cities, or older parents. To expand awareness about the role of home and school in children's health education and to develop further health promotion within the whole school community, it is important to gather parents' views regarding health issues. This study was conducted as part of a broader program in the health promotion network of the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE).