NEW HEALTH SURVEY REVEALS THAT VALLEY’S OLDER KIDS ARE LESS LIKELY TO FOLLOW WHAT THEY’RE TAUGHT THAN YOUNGER KIDS

New Weller Center poll underscores the fact that health education needs to engage kids early and keep them motivated

(Easton, Pa.) A new KidsHealth® KidsPoll found that 80 percent of the kids surveyed said there is “a lot” or “some” they can do to grow up to be healthy adults. Of the 1,178 kids ages 9 to 13 polled nationally, 68 area children participated in the poll during a visit to Weller Health Education Center. The majority (81 percent) said that most of what they hear about health is “very” or “sort of” easy to understand. However, older kids said they were less likely to follow what they’re taught about health.

The KidsPoll found that:

• 64 percent of 9-year-olds surveyed said they are “very interested” in learning about health versus 19 percent of 13-year-olds.

• 77 percent of 9-year-olds surveyed said they follow what they’re taught “all the time” or “most of the time” versus 43 percent of 13-year-olds.

Surprisingly, children’s declining interest in learning about health comes at a time when most kids are going through puberty and experiencing major changes in their bodies – changes that one might think would result in an increased interest in health. Additionally, this is an age when school-based health education typically receives more emphasis as a separate topic area.

This first KidsHealth KidsPoll of the school year focused on health literacy – the ability to obtain, understand, and use basic health information. Health literacy skills are a stronger predictor of an individual’s health status than age, income, employment status, education level, or racial/ethnic group, according to Partnership for Clear Health Communication. The Institute of Medicine estimates that low health literacy is costing the U.S. health care system more than $58 billion annually and that nearly 1 in 2 adults do not understand basic health information. Adult health literacy is beginning to receive considerable attention, but very little has been done to understand the topic among children. This poll is an effort to expand understanding of child health literacy.

What do these findings suggest for health professionals, teachers, and parents? Kids should be engaged in learning about age-appropriate health issues throughout their school years. Educational programs also need to include ways to motivate kids to adopt healthy behaviors.

The Weller Health Education offers more than 30 high-impact outcomes-based health education programs for kids grades pre-K through 12 to give children the tools they need to make healthy choices. The programs are sequential and the majority of the districts served by the Weller Center partner with the Center at multiple grade levels—some beginning as early as pre-kindergarten. Master’s-level health educators use engaging exhibits and multimedia presentations to get help kids learn to develop healthy behaviors. The programs are delivered at the Weller Center in Easton or as in-school assemblies.

Where are kids getting most of their information about health? Forty percent (40 percent) of kids surveyed said “school.” “A doctor or nurse” was the second-most common answer given (29 percent), and “parents” was a distant third (12 percent). However, when asked where they would go first if they had an important health question, most kids said “a parent” (31 percent). This suggests that parents may not be assuming as important a role as they could.

Where do kids say they’re most likely to get the wrong information about health? The runaway winners were “TV” and “friends,” each cited by 36 percent of kids polled.

KidsPoll is a collaborative project between the Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media, the National Association of Health Education Centers, Southern Illinois University, the Weller Center and a dozen other independent nonprofit health education centers across the country. Surveys are conducted using eInstruction—the Weller Center’s electronic questionnaire system. Questions are displayed on a video screen and students answer using a wireless keypad that provides instant feedback. For more information about the Weller Center and its programs, please call 610-258-8500, ext. 10. For complete survey findings and methodology, visit nahec.org/KidsPoll.

About the Weller Health Education Center

Offering more than 30 programs in general health, character education, drug abuse prevention, growth and development and nutrition and fitness, the Weller Center partners with school districts to provide interactive curricula-based health science programs for more than 80,000 students each year from 39 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Serving more than 1.2 million students since 1982, the Weller Center remains the only such center in the region and one of just 33 health education centers in the nation.

About the KidsHealth® KidsPoll

A project of the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC), the Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media (creators of KidsHealth.org), and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Department of Health Education and Recreation (project researchers), the KidsHealth KidsPoll gives children a national platform to share their views on health-related issues that affect them. Throughout the school year, regular KidsHealth KidsPolls will reveal kids’ opinions on issues such as bullying, stress, and peer pressure. For more information about the KidsHealth KidsPoll, please visit nahec.org/KidsPoll/.

About the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC)

NAHEC is the national association and network of nonprofit health education centers (HECs) and of other organizations that support children’s health education and provide products and services to HECs. NAHEC member centers reached over 3 million children, teachers, and parents in 2004. HECs use life-size exhibits, advanced audio-visual technology, and specialized, interactive instructional techniques not generally found in conventional classrooms. The curriculum is designed to support school-mandated areas of study. With programs like "Whodunit? - A Forensic Science Camp", Hummers outfitted with removable organs, and playgrounds modeled after anatomy parts, you’ll see why former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop proclaimed that health education centers “put pizzazz in prevention.” For more information about NAHEC, please visit nahec.org.

###