Health education in school

OBJECTIVES: To discover the contents of health education taught at present in the EGB (basic) schools of Castelldefels, the opinions of teachers on health education in schools, and to stimulate reflection among teachers and health-workers on health education at school. DESIGN: A crossover study using a self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: EGB schools in the town of Castelldefels. PARTICIPANTS: All the EGB teachers in Castelldefels (n = 261). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 148 teachers (57%) replied to the survey. Health education was considered necessary by 56.8% and essential by 33.1%. They needed technical support and adequate material to carry it through. Integration of health education into the teaching programmes of the school syllabus's different subjects was the best way of carrying it out, in the view of the majority. The advantage of different subjects coincided with those described in the "Health Plan for Catalonia". CONCLUSIONS: Given that we consider teachers to be the professionals best-placed to carry out health education at school, it is useful to confirm their awareness of its importance. As health education is also an objective of the primary care teams, these should be the reference and support point for teachers' demands for technical help.