Fresh, Unesco

At the dawn of the 21st century, the learning potential of children and young people in every country in the world is compromised by conditions and behaviours that undermine the physical and emotional well-being that makes learning possible. Hunger, malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, intestinal infections, infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, malaria, violence, drug and alcohol abuse threaten the health and lives of the children and youth in which Education for All efforts are most invested.

A substantial body of evidence supports approaches in which policy development, health-promoting environmental change, skills-based health education and school-based health services are strategically combined to address priority health problems that interfere with learning for the targeted group. Such approaches extend the vision of health to include emotional/mental and psychosocial wellbeing as well as physical health.