A study assessed the health behavior of California School Health Association members regarding their nutrition, drug use, exercise, health risks, and medical profiles. The survey indicates that most of these educators practice what they have learned and what they teach. (Author/PP)

Advice is offered to school health educators facing pressure from the back-to-basics movement and budget cutbacks. Health education teachers should: (1) develop a sound, defensible educational philosophy; (2) be able to explain why health education is a "basic"; (3) generate student, parent, and community support; and (4) be more active…

Taking a graduate-level course on family living and human sexuality resulted in increased knowledge for participating teachers, although no changes in overall attitudes were evident. A major finding of a study evaluating course effects was that older teachers tended to be less permissive on controversial issues. (Author/PP)

The relative effectiveness of a structured physical fitness program for fifth-grade students was compared with the effectiveness of the customary physical education activities. Students in the structured exercise program showed significant improvement in flexibility, strength, and endurance, and maintained gains during the summer. (Author/PP)

A survey of Michigan public schools provides information about the status of comprehensive health education in that state's public schools. The report concludes that preservice and inservice teacher preparation, program curriculum content, and the organizational structure of health education programs need attention. Changes are recommended.…

Arguments based on the philosophies of natural law, utilitarianism, paternalism, and distributive justice are examined for their pertinence to health behavior change strategies. Health educators should prepare individuals to make health-generating decisions but may need to limit the conditions under which they intervene. (Author/PP)

Social, economic, political, and health trends likely to shape the education of allied health professionals in coming years are discussed. Instead of work-force expansion, emphasis will be placed on cost-consciousness, care for the aging, and increased use of outpatient services. (Author/PP)

This article explains how a school nurse might assess and ameliorate a family's overall health problems using tools that facilitate a holistic approach. Use of the Roy Adaptation Model and the Family Assessment and Intervention Identifier in this context is discussed. (Author/PP)

School health education programs and health services can directly help meet 34 objectives of the national disease prevention and health promotion strategy and can contribute to the attainment of 33 others. Objectives of the disease prevention strategy are discussed, and evolution of the project is recounted. (PP)

A study of how female college students' behavior was affected by their awareness, knowledge, and perception of the risk of toxic shock syndrome shows that about 21 percent of those interviewed bought different products after learning of the disease. Implications for health education are drawn. (Authors/PP)

Although the use of television in school health education programs is still in its infancy, it is clear that health educators can use the medium to deliver information and persuasive messages. Four possibilities for using television in health education are described. (Authors/PP)

A school nurse helped improve nutrition education in the Bellefonte (Pennsylvania) school district by making resource materials and a packaged curriculum available to elementary school teachers and by providing inservice education. As a result, teachers spent more class time on nutrition instruction, and students' knowledge increased. (Authors/PP)

A study investigated the quality of supplemental, printed nutrition materials sponsored by the food industry and government agencies and evaluated their appropriateness for classroom instruction. Materials were rated by teachers, curriculum specialists, and nutrition specialists. (Authors/PP)

Microcomputers presently have many technical capabilities that can be used in health education, but computer technology cannot be fully applied in the health classroom until: (1) software becomes more widely available; and (2) health educators write the needed software programs. Future computer applications are discussed. (Author/PP)

This paper presents four arguments for a community-wide approach to drug abuse prevention. Community-based strategies, psychosocial behavior theory, community substructures, and stages of change are discussed. (Author/MT)