Lifestyle habits are most
critical in their impact on health and the development of chronic illnesses
later in life, these habits develop during childhood, but such behaviors are
especially critical during adolescence from age 10 to 19. The best way to
prevent adolescence from engaging in bad lifestyle choices is through
education.
اضافة اعلان
Education on diet, hygiene,
mental health, physical activity, the dangers of smoking, and the prevention of
bullying and violence are just some of the essential topics to focus on in the
country that is undergoing huge demographic, economic and social transitions.
In 2007, a survey of Jordanian
school children aged 13 to 15 found that 83.5 percent of students did not do
enough
physical activity, 14.3 percent were found to be at risk of becoming
overweight, over 41 percent were found to have been bullied at school, some
physically, while 18 percent seriously considered suicide and some actually
planned out how they would do it.
The Global School-based Student
Health Survey (GSHS), carried out by the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO),
issued recommendations that current educational programs be reviewed and
updated if need be and that new programs be developed.
While the survey found that just
3.9 percent of students surveyed were classified as overweight, unhealthy
eating habits were widely prevalent. The study found that 14.6 percent of
students ate at fast food restaurants and 38 percent usually drink carbonated
soft drinks. Conversely, the study also found that 14 percent of students surveyed
went hungry because there was no food in the house.
The survey found that 72 percent
of students did not have access to clean restrooms at school and that 33
percent had no place to wash their hands before eating, while nine percent from
among who did wash their hands didn’t use soap. It also found that 25 percent
of students surveyed did not brush their teeth, all of which pointed to poor
hygiene habits among students.
The GSHS investigated many other
aspects as well including basic sexual education and tobacco use. As a result
of their findings, they made broad recommendations to help improve the health
and wellness situation within schools.
Furthermore, the WHO and CDC
survey placed emphasis on the environment surrounding schooling and as a result
recommendations were made to develop guidelines and training for teachers,
students, parents, and health providers to improve the level of knowledge and
awareness, attitudes, behaviors, and healthy practices.
They also suggest improvements to
the curriculum and school facilities through the cooperation of government
institutions such as the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Health, and the
Ministry of Education.
Recommendations were made
internally to social counselors that
stressed their role in communicating and
improving social relations between students, teachers, and parents. In addition
to enforcing school regulations regarding school attendance, smoking
prevention, combating bullying, and violence in schools.
Since then, reform in schools has
been a slow and arduous process which will take years to implement. A large
portion of blame can be placed on the red tape involved in different ministries
communicating with each other.
Back in 2018, when the Health
Ministry issued a memo calling for the development of a new student healthcare
plan, the plan was rejected by the Education Ministry owing to difficulties in
financial implementation. Further back and forth between the two ministries
resulted in a deadlock and no resolution.
Despite this, there have been
reforms implemented in schools to improve wellness among students. In 2016, the
Health Ministry found that 93 percent of schools in Jordan had implemented some
form of the events or activities centered around hygiene and health. Among
these events were extracurricular activities, among the most popular were morning
assemblies and “all-hands” events that have been an effective tool in
disseminating health and hygiene related information to students.
The Youth Ministry has begun to establish
projects that help improve wellness among the youth. Projects began in 2019 and
will hopefully be implemented sometime before 2025. Two programs of particular
interest are project 9.4 to establish healthy values among young people, and
project 9.5 to establish positive health behaviors among young people
The goal is to develop programs that
spread awareness in these areas and includes aid of other ministries as well as
international organizations including UNICEF.
Although there have been efforts
to improve health within schools for adolescent students, wellness is an area that
is underappreciated. Programs on
mental health are virtually nonexistent. With
a disproportionally large number of students suffering from suicidal
tendencies, greater care should be taken in this area. In addition, programs to
help with stress management and coping techniques should also be considered.
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