The Effect of Health Principles Education on Performance of Female Elementary School Students in Isfahan, Iran

School is the second institution that a child steps into to learn at a broader level. Maintaining the physical, mental, and social health of children and adolescents as the future builders of the country is very important. Improving the living conditions of this group can be a great step in community health, prevention of diseases of older ages, and saving medical costs; therefore, health education plays an important role in promoting the health of students and society in all educational levels of schools, especially primary and middle schools. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of health principles education on the performance of female elementary school students in Isfahan, Iran.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 194 female students aged 8-12 years were selected through simple random sampling from elementary schools of District 5 of Isfahan City and 60 health educators were selected via census in 2018-2019 academic year. The study tools were two researcher-made questionnaires including questions in areas such as personal hygiene, periodic examinations, mental health of students, and students’ ability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson, Spearman, and t-test correlation coefficients via SPSS software.

There was a significant relationship between students' empowerment and observance of personal hygiene principles (r = 0.585, P < 0.001), public health (r = 0.503, P < 0.001), mental health (r = 0.304, P = 0.018), and periodic examinations (r = 0.266, P = 0.044). A significant relationship was observed between teaching puberty issues and observance of personal hygiene principles (r = 0.585, P < 0.001), public health (r = 0.609, P < 0.001), mental health (r = 0.503, P = 0.018), relationship with the instructor (r = 0.261, P = 0.050), periodic examination (r = 0.317, P = 0.015), and the ability of students (r = 0.549, P < 0.001).

Health education in schools is effective in promoting personal hygiene, public health, and mental health of students and the more students are affected by health instructions and the more the time of periodic examinations is, the more students' ability will be to observe individual and public health principles. The results indicated the effectiveness of school health education in increasing awareness and improving the performance of students in their lives and their families.