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Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school

BACKGROUND: In Norway, the introduction of an interdisciplinary subject named Public Health and Life skills has brought about renewed attention to how health is conceptualized and taught within and across school subjects. Physical education (PE) is one subject that has traditionally been linked to h...

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Autores principales: Haugen, Anders L. Hage, Riiser, Kirsti, Esser-Noethlichs, Marc, Hatlevik, Ove Edvard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10294679/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37383063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1205716
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author Haugen, Anders L. Hage
Riiser, Kirsti
Esser-Noethlichs, Marc
Hatlevik, Ove Edvard
author_facet Haugen, Anders L. Hage
Riiser, Kirsti
Esser-Noethlichs, Marc
Hatlevik, Ove Edvard
author_sort Haugen, Anders L. Hage
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In Norway, the introduction of an interdisciplinary subject named Public Health and Life skills has brought about renewed attention to how health is conceptualized and taught within and across school subjects. Physical education (PE) is one subject that has traditionally been linked to health outcomes. However, a narrow focus on increased physical activity as the main outcome of PE could be counterproductive in the pursuit of health. Critical health literacy (CHL) is put forward as a resource for health that can be nurtured in the PE context; this study hypothesizes that academic achievement in PE is positively associated with some aspects of CHL. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 521 pupils aged 13–15 years old from five lower secondary schools in Norway. Structural equation models were used as the primary statistical analysis to test the hypothesis. The study controlled for parents’ education, leisure physical activity, and participation in sports club activities. RESULTS: The results confirm the hypothesis, showing a positive and significant association between PE and CHL. The association remains when controlling for parents’ education, leisure physical activity, and participation in sports club activities ([Formula: see text] (PE)→(CHL−C1 )= 0.264, p = 0.001; [Formula: see text] (PE)→(CHL−C2 )= 0.351, p < 0.000). CONCLUSION: In our sample, academic achievement in PE was associated with higher levels of CHL. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the health benefits of PE. We argue that a resource-based health perspective can produce the appropriate aims for health in PE contexts and that the CHL concept contributes to illuminating key areas, promoting suitable teaching strategies, and bringing balance between an individual and collective focus for future health education, both within PE and across different subjects in school contexts.
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spelling pubmed-102946792023-06-28 Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school Haugen, Anders L. Hage Riiser, Kirsti Esser-Noethlichs, Marc Hatlevik, Ove Edvard Front Sports Act Living Sports and Active Living BACKGROUND: In Norway, the introduction of an interdisciplinary subject named Public Health and Life skills has brought about renewed attention to how health is conceptualized and taught within and across school subjects. Physical education (PE) is one subject that has traditionally been linked to health outcomes. However, a narrow focus on increased physical activity as the main outcome of PE could be counterproductive in the pursuit of health. Critical health literacy (CHL) is put forward as a resource for health that can be nurtured in the PE context; this study hypothesizes that academic achievement in PE is positively associated with some aspects of CHL. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 521 pupils aged 13–15 years old from five lower secondary schools in Norway. Structural equation models were used as the primary statistical analysis to test the hypothesis. The study controlled for parents’ education, leisure physical activity, and participation in sports club activities. RESULTS: The results confirm the hypothesis, showing a positive and significant association between PE and CHL. The association remains when controlling for parents’ education, leisure physical activity, and participation in sports club activities ([Formula: see text] (PE)→(CHL−C1 )= 0.264, p = 0.001; [Formula: see text] (PE)→(CHL−C2 )= 0.351, p < 0.000). CONCLUSION: In our sample, academic achievement in PE was associated with higher levels of CHL. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the health benefits of PE. We argue that a resource-based health perspective can produce the appropriate aims for health in PE contexts and that the CHL concept contributes to illuminating key areas, promoting suitable teaching strategies, and bringing balance between an individual and collective focus for future health education, both within PE and across different subjects in school contexts. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-06-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10294679/ /pubmed/37383063 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1205716 Text en © 2023 Haugen, Riiser, Esser-Noethlichs and Hatlevik. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Sports and Active Living
Haugen, Anders L. Hage
Riiser, Kirsti
Esser-Noethlichs, Marc
Hatlevik, Ove Edvard
Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title_full Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title_fullStr Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title_full_unstemmed Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title_short Fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
title_sort fostering pupils’ critical health literacy: examining the potential of physical education in lower secondary school
topic Sports and Active Living
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10294679/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37383063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1205716
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