PART I
by Pennie Sempell, JD, ACMT

A healthier, happier child is generally more successful academically.  What is involved in helping children learn the skills they need for better well-being?

Health is more than physical fitness and the  (much modified) “food pyramid”.  Health has been defined as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being. This broad reach of “health” encompasses skill building that falls within diverse fields of study, such as physical medicine, psychology, communication, interpersonal relations, mind-body medicine, physical education, nutrition, and much more.

The breadth of essential knowledge and skills that students need in order to become “health literate” is gained in many learning experiences.  The home school and school environments are important places where children can gain the knowledge and skills that they need to make informed decisions, modify behaviors that adversely affect health, and change social conditions in support of well-being.

Of course, home is the first and most significant place where health and life skill lessons are learned well, partial learned, or not learned effectively.

Health literacy goes far beyond providing health information in its focus on health enhancing skills.  The California Department of Education (CDE) says that health-literate individuals are:
1.    Self-directed learners who have the competence to use basic health information and services in health-enhancing ways
2.    Critical thinkers and problem solvers when confronting health problems and issues
3.    Effective communicators who organize and convey beliefs, ideas, and information about health issues
4.    Responsible and productive citizens who help ensure that their community is kept healthy, safe, and secure

Stress, a physical reaction of the body to perceived events, has a profound effect on mental, physical and social health.     A few examples clarify the trend in the medicine to look at the inter-connectedness of mind-body and social well-being on health.  Claire did not get her homework done and, feeling anxious about what will happen at school, is complaining of a tummy ache.  Sam stayed up late and didn’t get enough sleep, and is irritable and easily provoked on the playground.  A colleague has another migraine after a day teaching, a staff meeting and a mountain of homework to grade.

While there is no one fixed definition, stress is internal or external influences that disrupt an individual’s normal state of well-being.  These influences are capable of affecting health by causing emotional distress and leading to a variety of physiological changes.  

The current trend in medicine and psychology is an integrative approach that considers how stress, emotional, environmental and lifestyle factors influence health.  Increasingly, modern science is demonstrating that people of all ages, including children, can learn strategies for wellness.  With all the stressors of modern life and its negative impact on health and behavior, the healthy, alert and relaxed child needs to develop awareness of the key components of whole person health and age-appropriate strategies and tools to promote physical, mental, emotional and social well-being.

Where do you begin?  There is a lot more that the individual can do, than you might have thought possible, to positively affect health.  First, relax.  If you know how to do that.  One way is to learn how to relax and to teach your children simple methods to reduce tension and stress, and to become aware of the difference between relaxation and stress.

Here is a good beginning exercise to do together.  At the end of the day, take a few minutes to sit down (or lie down) in the same room.  
•    Ask your child if she notices any part of her body that is feeling uncomfortable, tense or tight.  Just listen to her reply.  
•    Share what you are noticing about your body’s sensations.  
•    Suggest that you are going to take a few minutes to help your body feel relaxed and comfortable by using your “in” breath and your “out” breath.   
•    Breath in, knowing that you are breathing in.
•    Breath out, knowing that you are breathing out
•    Suggest that your “in” breath is warm and relaxing, and imagine that it is going to “warm up” the tense or tight areas
•    Suggest that your “out” breath breathes out tension and stress
•    Repeat for a minute or longer, as you like
•    Be sure to take normal breathes, not big breathes, as that might result in hyperventilation and dizziness.

In coming issues, I will explore other facets of the health-literate child.