Reviewing research trends in health education and health promotion for children: the need to address issues related to social class, cultural background, policies and research methods

RESUMO

The review of researches on health education and helath promotion for children demonstrates that there are factors that influence children's behaviors that have been more studied then other. Historically, research priority has been given to psychological factors, such as the cognition, the affectivity and the role that significant others have in children's health attitudes and behaviors. More recently, research increasingly tend to adress the influences of both the community organization and the school environment. Nevertheless, social class, cultural background, policy and research method issues are still less studied factors. It is suggested that new research andeavors can also address the less studied factors so that these areas improve and health education and health promotion for children can better fulfill their roles.