Background/Purpose This study examined recent high school graduates' conceptualizations of high school health education (HE) and physical education (PE). Many national organizations have been emphasizing implementing school PE programs with lifelong health related physical activity (PA)(NASPE, 1999). HE provides health-related knowledge, attitudes and skills (CDC, 2008). However, surveillance studies have identified a significant decline in PA during adolescence (USDHHS, 1996). Given the substantiated trends in sedentary lifestyle and the prevalence of associated chronic disease (Mokdad et al., 1999), we conducted this study to know what high school students learn about these major public health issues.
Method 394 recent high school graduates completed questionnaires with the number of HE and PE classes taken in high school, grades in the HE and PE classes, and best conceptualization of HE and PE.
Analysis/Results We calculated the demographic data using measures of central tendency descriptive statistics.The frequency counts and percentages were analyzed. 5.1% of participants reported never enrolled in PE, while 34.3% reported enrollment in four semesters. PE enrollment decreased from freshmen (88.3%) to seniors (22.8%). 63.3% of PE enrollments were conceptualized as being sports oriented and 20.1% selected health and wellness. HE enrollment decreased from freshmen (67%) to seniors (7.6%). HE was conceptualized as nutrition education (38.3%), sex education (22.0%), substance abuse education (16.7%), PA education (15.5%) and drivers' education (7.6%).
Conclusions Results show where the general public information access points are for gaining knowledge about healthy active lifestyle and what is emphasized in the PE or HE high school curriculum.