Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

The importance of educating the youth of today about healthy lifestyles cannot be overstated. In the United States the top four causes of death in 1998, each lifestyle-related, were (1) heart disease - 724,859 deaths, (2) cancer - 541,532, (3) stroke - 158,448, and (4) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - 112,584, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2001 ). Fifteen years ago Kolbe (1986) identified the same top three leading causes of death and reported that they develop mainly from lifestyle habits.

The first encounter youth usually have with formal health education is in school. To maximize the positive benefits of school health education, an important question needs to be answered. What type of health curriculum should high schools follow to help students develop healthy lifestyle habits? The impact of health education is determined by the effectiveness, dissemination, and maintenance of the health education program (Kolbe, 1986). This study examined the extent to which the health education program at the selected schools cover the Iowa Department of Education's mandated health topics of study and identified the courses in which these topics were taught.

The purpose of this study was to compare the current secondary health curriculum at selected rural Iowa secondary schools to a recommended health curriculum model.

Year of Submission

2001

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Dennis Cryer

Comments

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Date Original

2001

Object Description

1 PDF file (41 pages)

Language

en

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