Would a course in high school help personal health responsibility?

[caregiver1977]

I have been thinking about this a while. I had been wondering if I should ask this question. After reading a thread entitled "I Am Done With Healthcare" I felt I could ask this.

I have seen many people, including family members, make bad health decisions with dire outcomes. I work part time at my local school district, usually with the high schools. I live in Mississippi, and as many of you know, our obesity rates and most of our health stats are pitiful.

I was wondering if personal responsibility would increase if high school students were required to take a course that taught about diseases and conditions and their effect on the body? Explain exactly what diabetes is and how it affects the body. The same with heart attacks, strokes, epilepsy/seizures, cancer, etc. Would people make better health decisions if they were given these facts while still in school?

I don't know of a school system that is already doing this (please tell me if there are). I know the health classes I have encountered in school did not cover this indepth, and the Biology courses I took didn't do it either (I took Advanced Biology in high school as well). Many of these classes are about the parts of the body and their function(s).

Would such a class have the potential to make a difference, or would it be just another class that would be mostly slept through and forgotten?

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

Would such a class have the potential to make a difference,

Not chance in hades.

One class compared the environment these kids face starting from birth?

Obesity doesn't happen at school, folks, it happens at home.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

I would love to be optimistic that something like this would help, but it is very difficult to teach teens about actions and their direct consequences. They just can't relate. They think that they are invincible and bad things won't happen to them. I think for the most part that a class of this type would be a good opportunity for a nap or maybe catching up on text messages.

[caregiver1977]

Thank you for your opinions.

MN-Nurse-- I don't expect the schools to do what the parents should be doing. I just thought a class of this sort would teach maybe what is not being taught at home. I wouldn't expect this class (or any part of the public school system) to perform a miracle.

TakeTwoAspirin--In high school I would have found this class VERY interesting (I would pick a class like this over Algebra anyday). But maybe my sister is right. Maybe I am a dork :)

[mazy]

I think it sounds like a great idea. It's true that you are confronting environmental/family driven behaviors that are pretty deeply ingrained. Not to mention the all-round boneheadedness of young people. But it's also true that there is a vacuum of information about the very basics of good health and I think that some students might really like to learn about the topic.

We need to find a way to incorporate this dialogue into our everyday lives, not make it something that people only hear about at the doctor's office -- especially since a lot of people do not get to see a dr. regularly.

I would have loved to learn about that in high school, especially since it would have been a break from all the boring math and social studies.

I'd be interested to know what you come up with.

[nursel56]

My kids had to take something like that while they were in high school - as I recall it they didn't absorb the information because it was boring to them. Sort of like "five food groups* here we go again" :-). I recall how the drug education classes were met with the same reaction until "this is drugs (fried egg) this is your brain".

If you could come up with a creative format or approach - it could plant the seed in at least a few of them. When you teach you don't get an instant reaction. How many times have we heard people say how somethng or someone changed their lives after they've lost all contact with the person who taught them? Why not?

* it's a plate now ChooseMyPlate.gov

This Is Your Brain On Drugs (Original) - YouTube