It is widely agreed that the development of health literacy should begin at a young age in order to empower children to reach their full health potential. Schools are an ideal setting for improving health literacy because they reach nearly all school-aged children throughout their school years. The aim of the researchers through this research article is to   (1) analyse a mandatory media literacy curriculum in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, (2) highlight its intersections with health literacy, and (3) demonstrate how it can be used to address health literacy. This curriculum analysis could serve as a methodological blueprint for educationalists, teachers, and policymakers everywhere in the world to incorporate health literacy into existing curricula, both health and non-health related.

Reference: //www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.687389/full

Children's health and educational attainment are influenced by health literacy, so it is important to identify the best pedagogical design. This systematic review identified 21 relevant studies, highlighting the importance of multicomponent design, cross-curricula integration, professional development for teachers, age of children, role of parents, and role of community. It also talks of the parent, child, and community voices as an essential component for sustained engagement and program success.

//pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34096058/

literacy in health related to any of the topic is important such communicable disease, nutrition, sexual and reproductive education, etc. I would like  to emphasis on that on non communicable diseases. It will enhances primordial ,primary levels of preventions. It will reduce the development of risk factors, and support health and wellbeing for all.

Developing personal health literacy—the ability to find, understand, and use health information and services—should start early in life. Teaching health literacy skills is part of the process of caring for and educating children, adolescents, and young adults.

CDC recommends the lessons regarding prevention of DM during the middle school. Improving health literacy in adolescence is supposed to improve the later life as adolescents are used to carry their modified behavior lifelong.

Health literacy is inversely associated with healthcare utilization and expenditure. Individuals with below basic or basic HLL have greater healthcare utilization and expendituresspending more on prescriptions compared to individuals with above basic HLL. Public health strategies promoting appropriate education among individuals with LHL may help to improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary healthcare visits and costs.

Reference

//www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/education-support/schools.html#:~:text=Developing%20personal%20health%20literacy%E2%80%94the,%2C%20adolescents%2C%20and%20young%20adults.

//www.researchgate.net/publication/324361368_Health_Literacy_in_School

//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629700/

Health Literacy is everyone’s health concern about the promotion and protection of health, prevention from disease, early diagnosis and screening, health care, and maintenance, and policy about health. (IOM, 2004) Health literacy is an important skill that is needed for reading health-related information, interpreting, discussing, making decisions about the health condition, and using medical tools for personal or familial health care. (IOM, 2004) 

The Institute of Medicine 2004 (now National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM]) reported that the education system is one major pathway for improving health literacy by integrating health knowledge and skills into the existing curricula of K- 12th classes. (IOM, 2004) In 2014, one out of six adults found a low literacy rate in the United States, and those who have low literacy skills, are four times more likely to experience fair or poor health in comparison to highly skilled adults. (IOM, 2014) Incorporating health literacy into the school curriculum is a critical issue for the continued well-being of our nation. (Auld ME, et. al.2023)

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Surkhet campus and Surkhet Educational Development Academy (SEDA) Campus in 2017 to discover the influence of health literacy on the health behavior of college girls (N=178) concluded that above average 93(53.3%) students have adequate knowledge on health literacy, 68 (36.51%) have marginal literacy, and 17 (9.55%) have inadequate literacy. (Khanal SP, 2021)

References

1. Institute of Medicine (IOM). 2004. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion.Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.  //doi.org/10.17226/10883 .
2. Institute of Medicine. 2014. Implications of Health Literacy for Public Health: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.  //doi.org/10.17226/18756 .
3. Auld ME, Allen MP, Hampton C, Montes JH, Sherry C, Mickalide AD, Logan RA, Alvarado-Little W, Parson K. 2023. Health Literacy and Health Education in Schools: Collaboration for Action-National Academy of Medicine.
4. Khanal SP, Sharma MK, Kharel S, Sharma C. Role of health literacy on health behavior change among the college girl students. Scholars' Journal. 2021 Dec 31:179-89.

Introducing health literacy programs in schools can be an effective way to improve the health literacy skills of young people. These programs can be designed to be age-appropriate and can cover a range of topics such as healthy eating, physical activity, mental health, and disease prevention.

By teaching children and adolescents how to access, understand, and use health information, health literacy programs can help them develop critical thinking skills and make informed decisions about their health.

A review found that health literacy programs in schools have the potential to improve students' health knowledge, skills, and behaviors. The review illustrates examples of the same and can be read at //doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061268

Enhancing the education and health of school-age children is a critical issue for the continued well-being of our nation. The 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM, now the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM]) report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion noted the education system as one major pathway for improving health literacy by integrating health knowledge and skills into the existing curricula of kindergarten through 12th-grade classes. The NASEM Roundtable on Health Literacy has held multiple workshops and forums to “inform, inspire, and activate a wide variety of stakeholders to support the development, implementation, and sharing of evidence-based health literacy practices and policies”. The COVID-19 epidemic [10] dramatically demonstrates the need for children, as well as adults, to develop new and specific health knowledge and behaviors and calls for increased integration of health education with schools and communities. Recognizing the influence of this larger social context on learning and health can help catalyze both individual and community-based solutions. For example, students with chronic illnesses such as asthma, which can affect their school attendance, can be educated about the impact of air quality or housing (e.g., mold, mites) in exacerbating their condition. Students in varied locations and at a range of ages continue, often with the guidance of adults, to take health-related social action. Various local, national, and international examples illustrate high schoolers taking social action related to health issues such as tobacco, gun safety, and climate change

References 

//nam.edu/health-literacy-and-health-education-in-schools-collaboration-for-action/

Health literacy describes the knowledge and competencies, daily activities and social interactions of people and communities to access, understand, appraise, remember and use health information, maintain good health, or seek care for themselves and those around them.

To curb the global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and heart disease, health literacy is a decisive success factor. Health literacy responsive systems are crucial to reduce the modifiable risk factors and address the complex mixture of economic, social, commercial and environmental determinants of NCDs.

Developing personal health literacy—the ability to find, understand, and use health information and services—should start early in life. Teaching health literacy skills is part of the process of caring for and educating children, adolescents, and young adults. All students should graduate with skills that will help them lead healthier lives.

References: 

//www.who.int/news/item/04-12-2022-health-literacy-demonstration-project-series--addressing-the-determinants-of-hypertension-among-migrant-workers-in-norther-india

//www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/education-support/schools.html  

Addressing children’s and adolescents’ health literacy is fundamental for sustainable development, societal
growth, and health development over the life course. Health literacy is a determinant of health, a significant
driver in sustaining health equity, and a key empowerment strategy. Therefore, the enhancement of health
literacy and health competencies should be addressed early on in schools, and the health literacy of both pupils
and educators is equally important and must be considered

//www.schoolsforhealth.org/sites/default/files/editor/fact-sheets/factsheet-2020-english.pdf

It is important to begin early in life to develop personal health literacy—the capacity to locate, comprehend, and use health information and services. The process of caring for and educating children, adolescents, and young adults includes teaching health literacy skills. Every kid should leave school with knowledge that will enable them to live healthier lives.

Source: //www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/education-support/schools.html

The attainment of a degree of knowledge, personal skills, and confidence to take action to enhance one's own and the community's health by altering one's own lifestyle and living circumstances is implied by the concept of health literacy as a tool for empowerment. Inadequate literacy can have a direct impact on a person's health by restricting their ability to develop personally, socially, and culturally and by impeding the growth of health literacy.According to a report released by the UNESCO in 2007, the countries of South and South-West Asia have the highest number of illiterate adults in the world: an estimated 388 million.On February 16, 2022, the Government of India approved the New Literacy Program, which will replace adult education with education for all. It will include essential life skills like financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care awareness, and other life skills. Schools have been made the units for implementation of scheme.Different strategies are to be adopted for different age group and state wise. The age priority cohort selected is 15-35 followed by other age group. The three crores students/children of around 7 lakh schools registered under UDISE aided and Private schools will participate as volunteer for the program with utilization of media – Electronic, Print, Folk & Inter-personal platforms including social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TV channels, radio, etc.

A systematic review of 2018 among school children named "Health literacy in schools? A systematic review of health related interventions aimed at disadvantage adolescents" taking age group of 12-16 years exposed health literacy intervention were mostly focused on physical activity (PA), diet, mental health, substance abuse or sleep but rarely any intervention focused on health literacy as an outcome measure. The positive change toward health literacy intervention and negative impact of health illiteracy in health outcome. Further strengthening importance of health literacy for school going children as health literacy is associated negatively with negatively associated with health behaviors and social factors in older adults, social factors. The time has come to intensify our efforts to improve health literacy in both public and private schooling for better health outcomes in older age.  

References : 

1.Health literacy and sustainable development, UN chronicles, //www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/health-literacy-and-sustainable-development

2. Ministry of education press release on "New India Literacy Programme 2022-2027"//pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1798805

3. Craig Smith, Hannah R. Gross, 2021,  Health literacy in Schools? A systematic Review of Health Related Interventions aimed at disadvantaged adolescent, //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7996245/

Health Literacy describes a person’s ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform their health-related decisions and actions. Today, finding and understanding health information requires a combination of skills in reading, math, media interpretation, searching online, and familiarity with science and health terminology. Applying skills in analyzing, evaluating, and comparing different sources of health information empowers teens to reject misinformation and make choices to access content that is evidence-based and supports their overall health and well-being. Teens get messages about drugs and alcohol from the news media and social media, as well as their peers, families, and extended social networks. Health literacy can play a role in how teens interpret messages about alcohol and other substances and can shape their expectations about what may happen if they consume drugs and alcohol.

Reference:

//nida.nih.gov/research-topics/parents-educators/lesson-plans/legit-accessing-valid-and-reliable-health-information

Developing personal health literacy—the ability to find, understand, and use health information and services—should start early in life. Teaching health literacy skills is part of the process of caring for and educating children, adolescents, and young adults. All students should graduate with skills that will help them lead healthier lives.

generally agreed upon that the development of health literacy should be addressed from an early age onwards in order to empower children to develop their full health potential. Schools can be seen as an ideal venue for strengthening health literacy because they reach almost all school-aged children throughout their school years. The development of health literacy at a young age is a catalyst for healthy development throughout across the life span. Evidence shows that health and education are intertwined with favorable effects for health (e.g., health behavior, knowledge) and education outcomes (e.g., academic achievement). However, health literacy is often not sufficiently integrated into the school curriculum despite its importance to health and education. Integrating health literacy into schools is challenging, as both schools and teachers already face numerous educational requirements that may prevent them from addressing health in the classroom because they perceive it as an additional task. This is why taking a sensitive approach is important, adapted to the needs of schools and highlighting the benefits of health literacy. Installing health literacy in schools succeeds more easily if it can be linked to existing curricular requirements. In this context, curriculum and instruction on media literacy, information literacy, and digital literacy are most promising subjects to include health literacy because these concepts share many commonalities with health literacy and often are already part of the school curriculum

Reference:

www.frontiersin.org

www.cdc.gov

Health literacy involves the information and services provided that people need to understand and make well-informed health decisions. On the other hand, the technology is developing so fast and misinformation may lead to decide mistakenly. Thus, it becomes priority gradually. There are various ways of health literacy like personal health literacy, organizational health literacy, digital health literacy and numeracy. These programs are provided according to the level of the education of the receivers. Nearly 9 out of 10 has to struggle with health literacy. That is why provision of health literacy programs in the school curriculum is becoming crucial. 

In most of the education systems, the curriculum is divided into pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle, high school and the university. The way how to provide health information is different from each level. Health literacy is more than reading and it involves specific skills, for instance, calculating the right dose of the drug in numeracy. Therefore, it is not an easy way to perform and the service provider is also necessary to be knowledgeable. One more important thing is to decide which kind of health literacy should be provided and taught in which curriculum. I think introduction the health literacy to the school children regarding with their levels of curriculum could lead to the healthier life styles and healthier world some day.

Health Literacy Programs in the School Curriculum is important for present junior citizen and future population. Programme should include maintenance and improvement of the health of pupils, health services, education on healthful living, health education and medical Check-ups etc. Such educational programme improve not only the physical but the mental and moral development of the children.

Health Literacy Programs in the School Curriculum is important to promotion of positive health, prevention of diseases, Early diagnosis, treatment and follow up of defects, awakening health consciousness in children.

Ex.   -The School Health Program in India.

          -Educating towards healthier community (AHEC) in West Florida