Health is the most precious asset a human being can possess across a whole life. It has an ‘intrinsic value’, because it is vital for survival, physical and mental growth, well-being, functionality, emotional stability, capacity for self-care, ability to enjoy the companionship of family and friends, acquire new skills, play sports, travel and even for sexual and reproductive functions in adult life. Health also has an ‘instrumental value’, because it enables a person to access education, gain employment, earn income, excel in competitive sports or fine-arts and become part of large social networks.
Yet, health remains a highly undervalued asset which is easily damaged by personal conduct or external influences which impact on an individual’s biology, beliefs and behaviours. Most people in society grow up without learning about which factors promote, protect and preserve health over the life course or about the many social, economic, environmental and commercial influences, which lead to disease, disability and early death. This greatly limits their ability to take care of the health and wellbeing of themselves, their family members or others in society.
Education improves the health of populations and protects the health of individuals. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) affirms that ‘education is a catalyst for development and a health intervention in its own right.” The Incheon Declaration of 2015 on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) avers that education “endows the skills, values and attitudes that enable citizens to lead healthy and fulfilled lives and make informed decisions.” Even as good health is aided by education, poor health prevents a student from accessing or fully benefiting from education. So, we need to promote a virtuous bi-directional relationship between education and health.
Schools are places where education has the most impactful formative influence on a child, with an imprint that lasts lifelong. They provide instruction in many domains to incrementally infuse knowledge, impart life skills, imbue values, prepare for later employment and also help to develop pupils as responsible citizens who can shape, steer and safeguard society. All of these are essential for promoting and protecting good health.
Schools also provide the early life setting for introducing young persons to the benefits of personal hygiene, good sanitation, healthy diets, adequate physical activity, avoidance of addictive substances, stress coping techniques, pleasant socialisation and conflict resolution. Lessons in traffic safety and first aid will be beneficial for physical health, while discussions of harm from bullying, physical violence, discrimination and gender bias will mould good behavioural patterns.
Schools can also walk the talk for health promotion by ensuring clean and green surroundings, well ventilated and properly lit class rooms, provision for playgrounds, disability friendly infrastructure, healthy cafeteria food and by implementing strict policies for keeping out tobacco products, alcohol and drugs. They can provide for mental health counselling, teach yoga and meditation techniques, conduct periodic checks of vision and hearing to enable early detection and correction so that physical impediments to learning are removed. Peer to peer support groups can be set up to enable students to help each other overcome mental health challenges or override barriers posed by physical disabilities. In that process they can promote empathy, which will become a valued quality as they build relationships in a conflict ridden world.
School health clinics, run by trained nurses, can be very helpful in attending to many health problems, from common fevers or menstrual complaints at menarche to special problems like epileptic seizures or treatment of hypoglycaemic episodes due to low blood sugar in children with juvenile diabetes. Where schools do not have such clinics, teachers should be trained to competently and compassionately respond to common health problems and health emergencies with skill and sensitivity.
Students can be effective change agents for promoting healthy behaviours in their family members and can become champions for healthy policies, when they are provided with the right information and assisted in developing persuasive communication skills. Students who learn about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption can get a parent or other family members to give up the habit. They can motivate family members for increased physical activity through group games or family excursions.
Knowledge of students can be progressively enhanced and life skills can be incrementally imparted, over the many years of schooling, starting from primary level and progressing till high school. Besides structured curricular learning, organised co-curricular activities and group projects can be effective aids to learning. They will also stimulate self-directed learning. Young persons do not absorb or apply health related messages effectively unless they also understand the reasoning behind it. They need to hear not just ‘what to do’ but also learn ‘why to do it. Schools are the best place to provide such learning, better than even at home, because they provide space for interactions with teachers who are trusted as knowledgeable learning resources and with peers who influence their attitudes. Even sensitive subjects like sex education can be framed as ‘healthy gender relations’, with strong emphasis on gender equity and gender respect.
Since health is also greatly influenced by policies in programmes in other sectors, students can advocate with policymakers for measures which will protect their health at present and safeguard it in the future. School students in India have campaigned for tobacco control, reduction of air pollution and elimination of plastic bags. They have ensured that schools adopted ‘tobacco free’ policies whereby no member of the school personnel consumes tobacco in the premises. They have developed kitchen gardens and green environments which are conducive for good health.
Schools must provide their students with the knowledge, skills and motivation needed to protect and promote their health, so that they can wisely choose what they do in daily life and also proactively influence public policies and social norms that impact on their health and wellbeing. Climate change is a challenge that poses a mounting threat that will seriously impact their health now and in the future decades of their life. Pollution of air, water and soil is assaulting their bodies with unrelenting ferocity. Polarising conflicts and violence are vitiating social harmony, with cascading damage to mental health and even causing physical harm. Young persons must learn how to avert and attenuate these external influences which can negatively impact their health. Schools can train them to play that citizenship role, both as individuals and as an organised collective.
Schools must impart factually correct and conceptually clear knowledge on how the human body functions efficiently through well coordinated synergy of multiple physiological systems and enhance awareness of many factors (from dietary habits to environmental threats) which damage that harmony. Only then can students make informed personal choices and also become effective change agents in society. My recent book “ Pulse To Planet: The Long Lifeline Of Human Health” is an offering to young persons to provide them that holistic perspective. Schools can surely do better!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat.
