The current pandemic has highlighted the importance of hand hygiene as a preventive measure to avoid the transmission of diseases. It is a habit that should be reinforced during childhood, so that it lasts into adulthood. The main objective was to analyse and describe, through drawing, the mental schemas that 6-12 year-old pupils have about clean…

The increase in childhood obesity requires the incorporation of nutritional competence into school programs through appropriate activities, starting in the early years. In addition, it is important to promote scientific and cognitive skills during childhood education. The main objective of this study was the implementation of an instructional…

This manuscript describes a pedagogical proposal for the adherence to healthy eating in sixth-grade schoolchildren. The reason for the design lies in the high prevalence of overweight and obesity together with a growing current sedentary lifestyle, aspects that constitute a serious public health problem worldwide with an upward trend and pandemic…

There is now a wealth of research on obesity both from biomedical and socially critical perspectives. However, less research has focused on the lived experiences of young children and particularly those who are perceived as 'sedentary'. This paper critically examines the issue of obesity as related to children's experiences of physical…

We provide the first causal evidence of the returns to maternal educational curricula on offspring's health at birth. Educational programs that aim to deliver more general knowledge may potentially improve women's earning potential and maternal prenatal investment by increasing the portability of skills across occupations and improving women's…

Background: Walking and bicycling (active commuting) to school may be a useful strategy to increase the daily amount of physical activity, and, potentially, improve children's health. However, it is unclear whether active commuting to school (ACS) has the potential to improve physical health and cognitive performance in children. Our aim was to…

Offering an in-depth exploration of the distinctive features of the play development and learning of toddlers, this book provides useful materials, strategies and tools that can be used by practitioners supporting toddlers at this significant age. The book explores the context and concepts of wellbeing and is ideal for early years practitioners,…

The creation of healthy habits and lifestyles is fundamental in the educational field and for acquiring adequate health levels that will prevail in adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics and correlations between the level of practice of physical activity, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), body mass index…

Background: We assessed the effectiveness of a handwashing program using hand sanitizer to prevent school absenteeism due to upper respiratory infections (URIs). Methods: This was a randomized, controlled, and open study on a sample of 1341 children 4-12 years old, attending 5 state schools in Almería (Spain), with an 8-month follow-up. The…

Background: Physical fitness is considered an important indicator of health in children. The aims of this study were to (1) provide sex- and age-specific EUROFIT battery levels of fitness in Spanish children; (2) compare Spanish children's fitness levels with those of children from other countries; and (3) determine the percentage of Spanish…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) in a sample of 1,708 Spanish children aged between 8 and 12 years. The SCAS was demonstrated to have satisfactory internal consistency with the Spanish sample, and factor analysis confirmed the six-factor…

Part 1 of the Report Card presents a league table of child well-being in 29 of the world's advanced economies. Part 2 looks at what children say about their own well-being (including a league table of children's life satisfaction). Part 3 examines changes in child well-being in advanced economies over the first decade of the 2000s, looking at each…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine (a) whether distance from home to school is a determinant of active commuting to school (ACS), (b) the relationship between distance from home to heavily used facilities (school, green spaces, and sports facilities) and the weight status and cardiometabolic risk categories, and (c) whether ACS has a…

The Spanish KIDSCREEN follow-up study reassessed the Spanish baseline sample (n = 840) of the European KIDSCREEN study 3 years later (2006). The aims of this paper were to describe the KIDSCREEN follow-up study and the pilot test, and to analyze participation rates and representativeness. Instruments included the KIDSCREEN-52 HRQoL measure and a…

The objective of this study is to offer a view on the different environmental factors that affect health (sound, light, colour, temperature) in the design, planning and organization of school premises. To achieve this, the authors first outline the problems leading to unhealthy situations. They subsequently analyse all the building and planning…