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Health Education Standards

Health education is an integral part of the total education of every child from kindergarten through grade 12. Therefore, every student should have the opportunity to participate in quality health education programs. It provides young people with the knowledge and skills they need to become successful learners and healthy and productive adults. To help students adopt and maintain healthy behaviors, health education should contribute directly to a student’s ability to successfully practice behaviors that protect and promote health and avoid or reduce health risks.

Good health and academic success are directly related. Healthy children are better students and better students become healthy, successful adults who are productive members of their communities. Quality health education programs help students achieve their highest academic potential. The Georgia Performance Standards for Health Education provide guidance on the essential skills and knowledge that students should have at each grade level. An effective health education curriculum focuses on learning critical health skills such as communication, decision making, and goal setting. The rationale for the focus on skills is derived from health education theory and is supported by research that has demonstrated the effectiveness of skills-based curricula in influencing students' health attitudes and practices.

Georgia Performance Standards for Health Education

The Georgia Performance Standards for Health Education are based on the eight National Health Education Standards, copyright 2007, developed by the Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards which consisted of representatives from the following organizations and agencies: American Association for Health Education, American School Health Association, American Public Health Association, and the Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation and sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

The National and Georgia Standards for Health Education are designed to incorporate into a curricula the following six priority adolescent risk behaviors identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Alcohol and other Drug Use, Injury and Violence (including Suicide), Tobacco Use, Poor Nutrition, Inadequate Physical Activity, and Risky Sexual Behavior. The standards also are designed to encompass a wide range of the following common content areas: Community Health, Consumer Health, Environmental Health, Family Life, Mental/Emotional Health, Injury Prevention/Safety, Nutrition, Personal Health, Prevention/Control of Disease, and Substance Use/Abuse. The standards reflect what a health educated student should know and be able to do at each grade level (K-12). The eight Georgia Performance Standards for Health Education with accompanying elements are provided for each grade level. The elements are provided to further define the knowledge and skills that are expected of students at the end of a lesson or unit of study.

  • Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
  • Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.
  • Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and services to enhance.
  • Standard 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.
  • Standard 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.
  • Standard 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health. 
  • Standard 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
  • Standard 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

View the Georgia Department of Education Health Education Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) for: