title: [Presence of current child and adolescent health priorities in school textbooks].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Fundación Investigación Biosanitaria Andalucía Oriental (FIBAO), Granada, España.
authors.forename: Inés M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Barrio Cantalejo
authors.forename: M Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ayudarte Larios
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernán García
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez Tapias
authors.forename: Juana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: de Haro Castellano
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Simón Lorda
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez García
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools; D013030:Spain; D013782:Textbooks as Topic