Comprehensive School Health Programme

The Central CBSE Board of Secondary Education in continuation of its Circular No. 09 dated 31.5.2006 regarding Comprehensive School Health Programme and creating Health Club in schools would like to reiterate and create awareness about the following issues:

1. School must have by now initiated the creation of Health Clubs to implement the Comprehensive School Health Programme.

(i) Health and Wellness Clubs in schools need to focus on over all well being comprising mental and social health of the child. These would opt as nodal centres for creating an enabling environment in the school ensure an ambience of wellness and fostering preventive health care.

(ii) The Constitution, responsibilities and objectives of a Health Club have already been stated in the previous circular.

(iii) Activities for promoting health and wellness to schools have also been stated in the circular.

2. Comprehensive School Health Manual

The Comprehensive School Health Manual addresses a basic gap in schooling that has crept in over the years. This is largely to do with the aspect of school health which has somehow been relegated to sporadic health chcck ups or in some cases a few hours of health instruction in the curriculum. It is Imperative that something is done urgently to take up the issue of holistic health in school going children, which includes physical, mental, emotional and psychosocial health. The School Health Policy and now the Manual proposes to view health holistically, utilize all educational opportunities for health promotion including formal and informal approaches in curriculum and pedagogy. Providing a safe school environment, on activity oriented health education curriculum to avoid health-related risk behavior, ensuring physical fitness activites and sports, providing nutritious snacks in the school canteen ensuring access to primary health care services, providing emergency care for illness or injury, providing counselling services and Integrated family and community activities and a staff health promotion policy are some of the expectations that a school should fulfill as was advised earlier. In the circular issued to all schools regarding setting up of Health Clubs.

Comprehensive School Health Manual will be available to all schools by August 2007.

3. Health Websites

Ths Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Govemment of Indla has commissioned a website on Healthy Living (www.healthy-India.org) to address the concerns in India on the lifestyle related preventable diseases.

The objectives of the website are:

(a) to harmonize the burden of preventable chronic diseases in the country by creating awareness

(b) to bring in the need for a healthy lifestyle

(c) to create Agents of Change among school children with regard to health issues

(d) to encourage the setting up of a health fostering school

(e) to create awareness regarding canteens as social responsible outlets which inculcate healthy eating behaviours

(f) to ensure that there is enough emphasis on physical activity in schools and an enjoyment of this physical activity.

The website has been so designed that it is user-friendly and contains a number of dynamic sections for interactive sessions.

As India advances economically and gains greater control over traditional health threats, diseases, ‘related to distorted lifestyles and unheatthy living habits are rapidly growing as major publie health problems. Imbalanced diet, physical inactivity, tobacco consumption and alcohol abuse are leading to many Indians suffering from diabetes, heart disease, cancer and lung disease. Many of these diseases are preventable. Such preventive efforts are best started in childhood and in schooling years.

Armed with appopriate health information people can project and promote their personal health and families concreate healthy living conditions for individuals at all ages. Schools and colleges are important stakeholders in disseminating healthy lifestyle information to children and youth.

Healthy India endeavours to advance consciousness of disease prevention opportunities, encourage the detection and treatment of chronic diseases, and foster healthy living through information and resourees on healthy lifestyle viz. Healthy Diet; Physical Activity; Dealing with Tobacoo and Alcohol related health problems; Yoga and Stress Management; Diabetes; Cancers; Heart Attacks and Strokes.