Preschool health education program (PHEP): analysis of educational and behavioral outcome.

A health education curriculum structured around age-appropriate types of behavior that enable children to assume more responsibility for their own health was developed, taught, and evaluated in an early childhood learning center. The curriculum was then field-tested and evaluated in several additional preschools utilizing a design which included comparable nonintervention preschools. The findings indicate that the curriculum contributed to learning and suggest that it has some potential in influencing health related behavior. It is not possible to determine from the findings the precise contribution of the curriculum to the observed changes in children's learning outcomes and health behavior. It is likely that the curriculum and the children's general maturation and development all contributed to the changes observed. The studies demonstrated that the curriculum was effectively structured to be appropriate for the targeted age group, acceptable for use by preschool staff and easily implemented into a variety of preschool settings.