Critically discuss the contribution that schools can make to childrens Essay

Critically discuss the contribution that schools can make to childrens health and wellbeing - Essay Example Both the school and home are the major social environments for children. Exposure to caring and supportive environments and positive emotional attachments play a leading role in determining physical and mental health of children. Health promoting programs involves a broad health education curriculum that assists in creating a supportive environment for healthy development at schools. Schools should develop a whole school strategy to welfare promotion incorporating broad health education curriculum. More so, developing health promoting programs is very important in encouraging children to adopt health-improving behaviors and eliminate health compromising behaviors. Such programs assist in improving the establishment of school health initiatives resulting to changes in children’s health behaviors and enhance health promotion policies and practices in most schools. This paper provides a very critical discussion on how schools can contribute to the well-being and health of childre n. The term wellbeing refers to the quality of individuals’ lives based on household income, educational resources and health status among others (Statham and Chase 2010, p.2). Being healthy entails living a healthy lifestyle free from excessive consumption of fast foods and use of illicit drugs; and also being physically, mentally, emotionally, socially as well as sexually healthy. On the other hand, children’s wellbeing involves aspects such as engaging in further education; secure a job upon graduating, and access to basic needs among others. Within an international agenda and the UNICEF report, health and safety, material wellbeing, and family and peer relationships are some of the aspects in children’s welfare (Mcauley and Rose 2010, p.112; Watson 2012, p.80). Normally, schoolchildren are faced with health problems due to poor dietary behaviors like excessive intake of calories and inadequate consumption of healthy diet like fruits and