Schools & Health: Our Nation's Investment

Schools have been the site for health programming in the United States since the early colonial period. When public education became compulsory in the mid-nineteenth century, the strategic role that schools could play in promoting and protecting health became recognized; schools soon became the front line in the fight against infectious disease and the hub for providing a wide range of health and social services for children and families.
As times changed, school health programs have changed to keep pace with the changing needs of children and adolescents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted that six categories of behavior are responsible for 70 percent of adolescent mortality and morbidity: unintentional and intentional injuries, drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies, diseases associated with tobacco use, illnesses resulting from inadequate physical activity, and health problems due to inadequate dietary patterns. A significant segment of our nation's youth is at risk for dropping out of school as a consequence of a broad range of health and behavioral problems; further, many children do not have access to basic preventive and primary care.