Effective Cardiovascular Health Education in the Young

Abstract

The study was designed to assess the efficacy of one national health education effort, the School Health Curriculum Project ("Berkeley Project"), in increasing the level of cardiovascular health knowl edge of sixth-grade students. Using a recently developed test of cardiovascular health knowledge, the Iowa Cardiovascular Health Test (ICVHT), 577 sixth-grade and 358 seventh-grade students from six Iowa school districts participating in the Berkeley Project were compared to two control groups. Significant differences in knowledge were present following comple tion of the cardiovascular unit when sixth-grade students in the experimental group weere compared to those in the control groups. However, differences in knowledge levels were transient, lacking practical significance when seventh-grade students were tested one year following completion of the instruction. The results of this investigation have implicationsforfuture health education curricular design and imple mentation.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Heart Association (1976) Long Range Plan (June 14).

Bureau of Health Education, HEW Center for Disease Control (1976) Focal Points (February).

Davies, N. E. (1976) "On oracles, education and the public weal." J. of the Amer. Medical Association 235: 2845.

Dayton, S. and M. L. Pearce (1969) "Prevention of coronary heart disease and other complications of atherosclerosis by modified diet." Amer. J. of Medicine 46: 751-762.

Hieronymous, A. N. and E. F. Lindquist (1974) Iowa Test of Basic Skills . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Keyes, J. A. , M. P. Wilson , and J. Becker (1975 ) "The future of medical education: forecast of the council of deans." J. of Medical Education 50: 319.

Klausmeier, H. J. and J. Check (1962) "Retention and transfer in children of low, average, and high intelligence." J. of Educational Research 55: 319-322.

Krueger, W.C.F. (1929) "The effect of overlearning on retention." J. of Experimental Psychology 12: 71-78.

Lindquist, E. F. (1953) Design and Analysis of Experiments. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

10.

Milne, A. M. , J. Marshall-Mies , and J. E. Colmen ( 1975 ) A Study of the Impact of the School Health Curriculum Project of Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior of Teenage Students. Department of Health, Education and Welfare Publication, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia, November.

11.

Parcel, G. S. (1976) "Curriculum planning for teaching health skills." Educational Horizons 55: 47.

12.

Report of the Present's Committee on Health Education (1973 ) Rockville, Health Services and Mental Health Administration. Department of Health, Education and Welfare .

13.

Stern, M. P. , J. W. Farquhar , N. Macoby , and S. H. Russell ( 1976) "Results of a two-year health educational campaign on dietary behavior." Circulation 54: 826-833.

14.

White, C. W. , M. A. Albanese , E. E. Anderson , and R. M. Caplan (1977) "The status of cardiovascular health knowledge among sixth, seventh, and eight grade children." Circulation 56: 480-484.