The opinion piece was written by Jeroen Deenik (health psychologist), Martijn van Winkelhof (business economist) and Karine van ’t Land (physician in Public Health, in training). The trio advocates turning Physical Activity & Sport into the Health learning area and supplementing this learning area with the subjects of nutrition, relaxation, sleep, sexuality, and smoking/alcohol/drugs. Some of these are already addressed in other proposed learning areas. But according to the authors, combining them in one meaningful Health learning area would offer significant added value. “This would give health a clear place in our education system. As a child, you can learn that every life comes with challenges. You can discover how to face these challenges, both as an individual and together with others. In this way, we give our children the best possible chance of health and happiness.”
The authors acknowledge that schools are already busy with projects such as Healthy School, Youth at a Healthy Weight and extended school days. Their objection, however, is that these are temporary initiatives without structural and nationwide funding. As a result, the projects create a great deal of additional workload without delivering sustainable results. The authors also believe that, financially, they yield too low a ‘return on investment’.
A permanent Health learning area, on the other hand, would, in the authors’ view, do justice to the motivation of schools and teachers to offer their pupils the best possible future. This would enable them to achieve their objectives without being overwhelmed by a flood of initiatives.
According to the authors, the Health learning area could help reduce future healthcare costs. “If we cautiously assume that, with the right prevention, we can prevent at least 2.5% of the burden of mental illness, this would save half a billion euros in healthcare costs every year, quite apart from the personal suffering avoided.” The authors point out that approximately 75% of mental illnesses develop before the age of 25. “That makes teaching the right habits at a young age so important. That is why structurally investing in a healthy lifestyle is an absolute must, including in vocational education, universities of applied sciences and universities.”