Texas drops health education requirement while obesity and other common eating disorders increase

July 8, 8:17 AMHouston Teen Issues ExaminerMindy Jones

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The Education Commissioner Robert Scott announces that Texas, one of only a few states, will no longer require health education as a requirement to graduate from high school.  This is quite concerning given the fact that this is one of the only classes that teaches students about healthy eating habits and basic nutrition, alcohol and drug awareness, and sex education (abstinence doesn't count).

For most parents who don't exactly know what all is covered in a health education class for high school students, listed below is some of the key concepts taught (taken from the Texas Essential Knowledge Skills (TEKS) curriculum).

(A) Health Information. The student analyzes health information and applies strategies for enhancing and maintaining personal health throughout the life span. The student is expected to:

1. relate the nation's health goals and objectives to individual, family, and community health;
2. examine the relationship among body composition, diet, and fitness;
3. explain the relationship between nutrition, quality of life, and disease;
4. describe the causes, symptoms, and treatment of eating disorders;
5. examine issues related to death and grieving;
6. discuss health-related social issues such as organ donation and homelessness;
7. analyze strategies to prevent suicides;
8. examine causes and effects of stress and develop strategies for managing stress and coping with anxiety and depression;
9. describe the importance of taking responsibility for establishing and implementing health maintenance for individuals and family members of all ages.

(B) Health Information. The student is health literate in disease prevention and health promotion throughout the life span. The student is expected to:

1. analyze the relationship between health promotion and disease prevention;
2. (analyze the influence of laws, policies, and practices on health-related issues including those related to disease prevention;
3. identify, describe, and assess available health-related services in the community that relate to disease prevention and health promotion;
4. develop and analyze strategies related to the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

(C) Health Information. The student recognizes the importance and significance of the reproductive process as it relates to the health of future generations. The student is expected to:

1. explain fetal development from conception through pregnancy and birth;
2. explain the importance of the role of prenatal care and proper nutrition in promoting optimal health for both the baby and the mother such as breast feeding;
3. analyze the harmful effects of certain substances on the fetus such as alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and environmental hazards such as lead;
4. explain the significance of genetics and its role in fetal development.

(D) Health Behaviors. The student analyzes the relationship between unsafe behaviors and personal health and develops strategies to promote resiliency throughout the life span. The student is expected to:

1. analyze the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and other substances such as physical, mental, social, and legal consequences;
2. explain the relationship between alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and other substances used by adolescents and the role these substances play in unsafe situations such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), unplanned pregnancies, and motor vehicle accidents;
3. develop strategies for preventing use of tobacco, alcohol, and other addictive substances;
4. analyze the importance of alternatives to drug and substance use;
5. analyze and apply strategies for avoiding violence, gangs, weapons, and drugs;
6. analyze strategies for preventing and responding to deliberate and accidental injuries;
7. analyze the relationship between the use of refusal skills and the avoidance of unsafe situations such as sexual abstinence;
8. analyze the importance and benefits of abstinence as it relates to emotional health and the prevention of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases;
9. analyze the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of barrier protection and other contraceptive methods including the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), keeping in mind the effectiveness of remaining abstinent until marriage;
10. analyze the importance of healthy strategies that prevent physical, sexual, and emotional abuse such as date rape;
11. analyze the importance of abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior in relationship to all sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age;
12. discuss abstinence from sexual activity as the only method that is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and the sexual transmission of HIV or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and the emotional trauma associated with adolescent sexual activity.

All this, and more, gets traded in so that students can take more electives.  The elective requirement will now be increased from three-and-a-half credits to six credits.  It seems the focus is being shifted towards students being more creative and seeking the arts. 

This is alarming when one looks at the statistics of obesity, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa, which have steadily been on the rise among both male and female teens. 

So much vital information will be lost if this course is done away with.  In our society, many teens grow up with both parents in the workplace, leaving less time for one or both parents to talk with their teens about the very things that would have been taught in the health education course.  Where are our children going to learn?  The internet?  Maybe.  But what will their sources be?  Accurate?  Unfortunately, too much information is available on the internet and much of it is sadly inaccurate.

If you believe that the health education course should still be mandated in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Curriculum, write your Texas Congressman or Congresswoman and let them know what you think.

References

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter115/ch115c.html Retrieved on July 8, 2009.