Strengthening children's health in a health-promoting school provides the opportunity to learn to live healthier lives

Abstract

Lithuania's health-promoting schools have entered the fourth decade with their continuous long-term activity and rich experience. The very title unites two sectors, health and education, under one cohesive effort. A health-promoting school is a school where, through the involvement of the school community and social partners, students' healthy lifestyle skills are being developed and a physically and psychosocially favorable environment for the school community's health is created. The goal of health-promoting schools is to integrate health promotion activities into the entire school life, involving students, teachers, parents (guardians), specialists, and community members. In these schools, long-term and purposeful health promotion activities are carried out on a voluntary basis, and community members take care of their own and others' health in their daily activities. A wide range of institutions implements the concept of health-promoting schools: preschool, general education, vocational, and higher education institutions. They prioritize children's participation in health promotion and education programs, which is expected to lead to better child health. Health promotion activities are purposeful and carried out according to approved health promotion programs, which forms the basis of health-promoting schools. These programs encompass six areas of activity: health promotion activity management structure, policy and quality assurance, psychosocial and physical environment, human and material resources, health education, dissemination of health-promoting school experience within and beyond the school. Each school in this program highlights its own priorities, meets the needs of the school, addresses current issues, and proposes solutions. The activity in a health-promoting school is based on existing evidence and research or those discovered by the schools themselves. Research has shown that the lifestyle of students studying in health-promoting schools is healthier, educators pay more attention to health issues, parents (guardians) and the entire school community are involved in health promotion activities, thus it is necessary to develop the network of health-promoting schools in the perspective.