The Role of the Federal Government in Promoting Health Through the Schools: Opening Statement of Senator Carl Levin
Opening Statement of Senator Carl Levin, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, at Hearing on Healthy Schools, Healthy Children, Healthy Futures: The Role of the Federal Government in Promoting Child Health Through the Schools, November 14, 1991.
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or our children to be ready to learn, they need healthy, well-nourished bodies, Today, children face a world where the issues and pressures about their bodies are increasingly complex. Parents, of course, still experience the same worries that their children are not eating right or getting enough exercise, but now, sadly, we must add drug and substance abuse, teen-age pregnancy, the possibility of sexually transmitted disease and school violence to the list. Being and staying healthy involves paying attention to many other factors in addition to nutrition and exercise. The federal government supports more than 100 different programs that involve health promotion through schools, and more than 30 clearinghouses and information centers. The number of programs and information sources is both encouraging and discouraging. While the number of programs evidences a serious interest in addressing child health promotion through schools, the multiplicity of programs suggests disorganization and wasted resources. Some programs are overlapping, contradictory, and lacking overall direction. The Public Health Service, working with a wide spectrum of national organizations, state health departments, and other health officials produced a compilation of health objectives designed to improve the health of Americans into the year 2000. Several objectives focus on our youth and on the importance of schools’ fostering positive health habits and responsible behavior. As part of these broad-based national health objectives Healthy People 2000 states, “Health Education in the school setting is especially important for helping children and youth develop the increasingly complex knowledge and skills they will need to avoid health risks and maintain good health for life. Quality school health education that is planned and sequential for students in kindergarten through the 12th grade, and taught by educators trained to teach the subject, has been shown to be effective in preventing risk behaviors.” Senator Carl Levin, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Room 459, Russell Office Bldg.. First and Constitution Ave.. NE, Washington, DC 20510.
128
Journal of School Health
April 1992, Vol. 62, No. 4
Opening Statement of Senator Carl Levin, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, at Hearing on Healthy Schools, Healthy Children, Healthy Futures: The Role of the Federal Government in Promoting Child Health Through the Schools, November 14, 1991.
F
or our children to be ready to learn, they need healthy, well-nourished bodies, Today, children face a world where the issues and pressures about their bodies are increasingly complex. Parents, of course, still experience the same worries that their children are not eating right or getting enough exercise, but now, sadly, we must add drug and substance abuse, teen-age pregnancy, the possibility of sexually transmitted disease and school violence to the list. Being and staying healthy involves paying attention to many other factors in addition to nutrition and exercise. The federal government supports more than 100 different programs that involve health promotion through schools, and more than 30 clearinghouses and information centers. The number of programs and information sources is both encouraging and discouraging. While the number of programs evidences a serious interest in addressing child health promotion through schools, the multiplicity of programs suggests disorganization and wasted resources. Some programs are overlapping, contradictory, and lacking overall direction. The Public Health Service, working with a wide spectrum of national organizations, state health departments, and other health officials produced a compilation of health objectives designed to improve the health of Americans into the year 2000. Several objectives focus on our youth and on the importance of schools’ fostering positive health habits and responsible behavior. As part of these broad-based national health objectives Healthy People 2000 states, “Health Education in the school setting is especially important for helping children and youth develop the increasingly complex knowledge and skills they will need to avoid health risks and maintain good health for life. Quality school health education that is planned and sequential for students in kindergarten through the 12th grade, and taught by educators trained to teach the subject, has been shown to be effective in preventing risk behaviors.” Senator Carl Levin, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Room 459, Russell Office Bldg.. First and Constitution Ave.. NE, Washington, DC 20510.
128
Journal of School Health
April 1992, Vol. 62, No. 4
