Background: Communities consist of interconnected sub-systems, such as schools, healthcare organizations, and businesses, each fulfilling specific functions that contribute to the overall well-being of the community. Effective community responses to crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require collaboration across these sectors. However,…

We developed a hands-on activity using the game Jenga to demonstrate the links between health behaviors, chronic and infectious diseases, and community well-being and resilience. For the activity, K-12 students worked together in small teams (4-8 students) and were given two Jenga towers ("tower A" and "tower B"), each…

Studies on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention education and its educational effects for elementary school students are necessary. This study aimed to examine the effects of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention education on knowledge about cervical cancer, HPV, immunization, and attitude about immunization among girls in the sixth grade…

The purpose of this article is to analyse how education and schooling took part in handling the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in eight European countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland and Sweden). The focus is on primary education and on decisions to close schools, or not. Our research was informed by assemblage…

Objectives: Overweight and obesity among school-aged children pose a threat to both their academic performance and public health. The Healthy Primary School of the Future (HPSF) initiative was established to address this issue. Our objective was to explore the conditions that make HPSF sustainable based on the perspectives of relevant…

This is part II of a two-part series on integrating a physical activity component in delivering health lessons to elementary and middle school students. The purpose of this series is to illustrate how health content can be implemented with hands-on activities, physical experiments, visual illustrations that are associated with a specific lesson…

This small-scale comparative study explores how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted on the transition from Early Years Education to Key Stage 1 (KS1) for children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) in a SEND specialist school in the UK. Two focus group interviews were conducted with nine professionals who work across three KS1…

The increasing rate of food allergies in children, combined with the role of food as an integral part of the school day has led to the emergence of anaphylaxis as a daily threat to students, regardless of prior allergy diagnosis. Stock epinephrine--non-patient specific epinephrine auto-injectors that may be used during emergencies--is a means for…

As California's elementary schools reopen after prolonged physical closure due to COVID-19, attention to healing the school community will be essential. Although there is wide variation in the timing and formats with which schools plan to reopen, it is clear that when students reenter school buildings they will be eager to reconnect with friends…

Mental health issues among school-age children are variable yet consistently prevalent worldwide; the implications can be debilitating and long-lasting. Due to their regular interactions with students, school staff members are well poised to identify issues and implement in-school mental health interventions. In this qualitative study, we examine…

This policy brief summarizes results from a survey of over 2,000 K-12 science teachers regarding their instruction related to COVID-19. Teachers were surveyed in the spring of 2020 shortly after school buildings closed. In addition, 40 teachers were interviewed. The brief also discusses implications and recommendations. [This brief is derived from…

The world is changing: both a conventional and a vaccine passport are now needed to travel internationally. Mask mandates, and social distancing are the new norm in a rapidly changing society. These measures were put in place to control the spread of the highly infectious and often fatal COVID-19, caused by a viral agent, a microorganism, a…

The quality of life of students at school is an increasingly topical issue in relation both to public health issues, made more acute by the pandemic and successive confinements, and to the technical nature of future jobs which means training has become an economic issue. There are therefore two issues, one linked to health and the other to school…

The pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 has highlighted an urgent need for infectious disease education for K-12 students. To gather a better understanding of what educational interventions have been conducted and to what effect, we performed a scoping review. We identified and examined 23 empirical researcher- and teacher-designed studies conducted in…

Background: Integrating public health into science courses helps students grasp the links between health recommendations and scientific principles. During COVID-19, a team of 19 educators, scientists and clinicians designed 25 science inquiry lessons to enhance disease knowledge and prevention strategies among school-aged children. The efficacy of…