Public Health, Historical and Moral Lessons for the Preparation of School Health Educators: The Case of Childhood Obesity and the Need for Social Responsibility

Abstract

Background: The health conditions of working-class children during the Industrial Revolution in England documented the relationships among poverty, unsanitary conditions, and disease. This evidence helped to establish how the context of people's lives greatly influences their health and how social reform and public policy play key roles in improving children's health. The replication of these actions that are based on the ideology and need for social responsibility can be implemented by modern-day Health Educators as they address the problems of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including the problem of childhood obesity. Methods: A systematic review and analysis of historical documents and an analysis and application of egalitarian views of justice were used to demonstrate a need for social responsibility in the field of school health education. Results: Historical and epidemiological evidence illustrate the need for social responsibility. In addition, Health Educators have a moral obligation and justification for attending to their social responsibility. Conclusions: Obesity is an impediment to the health of children as it is to justice for children. Health Educators in school site settings are professionally and morally obligated to attend to their social responsibilities when implementing childhood obesity intervention programs.