HEALTH EDUCATION AT SCHOOL FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND PARENTS

Abstract

Health education, or education and upbringing for health, is a medical-pedagogical discipline aimed at improving society’s health. It enables medical science to integrate its findings with social and cultural advancements and allows educational processes to transform knowledge into health-conscious beliefs. Accordingly, health education in schools serves as the foundation for general prevention, health promotion, disease prevention, and ensuring quality of life. According to the World Health Organisation, the younger population should be healthier, have greater opportunities to adopt healthy lifestyle habits and be capable of successfully and meaningfully assuming social and economic roles. Health education in schools is a unique Croatian contribution to achieving these goals and was actively introduced into school curricula in the 2012/13 school year. Through four modules (Healthy Living, Prevention of Violent Behaviour, Addiction Prevention, and Gender Equality and Responsible Sexual Behaviour), a positive and responsible attitude towards health is further promoted. This also reinforces the definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being rather than merely the absence of illness and ex- haustion. Since the introduction of health education in Croatian schools, research has explored students’ attitudes and satisfaction, teachers’ perspectives, and parents’ opinions regarding the current forms and quality of health education implementation. This review paper aims to provide a theoretical framework, present previous research findings on health education, and offer new perspectives, including potentially narrower areas and research topics within this field.