[Presence of current child and adolescent health priorities in school textbooks].
BACKGROUND
Textbooks are an educational tool for learning health habits. The aim of this study was to determine how these textbooks present the health priorities defined by health organizations to children and teenagers.


METHODS
We performed a descriptive study in 3 steps: a) the priorities defined by health organizations were identified; b) the messages on health in the textbooks used in the schools of a municipality were identified, and c) the extent to which these messages fitted the priorities established was analyzed.


RESULTS
The World Health Organization, the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumption, and the Spanish Society of Public Health and Healthcare Administration define 24 priorities. One hundred textbooks were collected, with 663 health messages. The priorities most frequently covered in the textbooks were diet, physical exercise and the impact of environmental contamination. The least frequently covered topics was bullying, child maltreatment, poverty, self harm, and obesity. The latter topic was especially lacking in kindergartens and elementary schools.


CONCLUSIONS
The health messages contained in school textbooks are not well adapted to the priorities defined by health organizations.
Barrio Cantalejo
Inés M
IM
Fundación Investigación Biosanitaria Andalucía Oriental (FIBAO), Granada, España.
Ayudarte Larios
M Luisa
ML
Hernán García
Mariano
M
Martínez Tapias
Jesús
J
de Haro Castellano
Juana M
JM
Simón Lorda
Pablo
P
Sánchez García
Manuel
M
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools; D013030:Spain; D013782:Textbooks as Topic