When Are We Going to Teach Health?: Let’s Teach Health as If Each Child’s Life Depends on It – Because It Does

Product Description

Fact: Health improves learning.

Yet nationwide, elementary school students spend twelve times more classroom hours studying history than health. Worse, most kids don’t get enough physical activity and over 5 million underage youth vape.

In
When Are We Going to Teach Health?,
Duncan Van Dusen, the CEO of one of the most widely used youth health education programs in the world, makes a novel, sometimes irreverent, case for prioritizing “Whole Child” health and SEL in K-12 schools.

He shows
why health drives academic success,
what makes teaching health effective, and
how to create a school environment that delivers and sustains healthy behavior. Using case studies, tips, and recommended actions, he describes proven youth empowerment and skills-based health education techniques to increase kids’ physical activity and healthy food choices and to decrease youth vaping.

Half of the proceeds from this book will fund health education in low-income schools.

Review

“Protecting the current and future health of our children is our collective societal responsibility and our schools provide a powerful platform to provide evidence-based health education to all of our children. Van Dusen provides a compelling blueprint for changing our attitude about health in schools across our nation.”
—
Dr. Ron DePinho, Fourth President of MD Anderson Cancer Center & Founder of Opa Health

“A witty and thoughtful consideration of where education and health intersect and what the reality and possibilities are for schools. You will walk away from this book with a strong sense of urgency and purpose about the importance of health in schools!”
—
Jessica Yoder, Project AWARE School-Based Mental Health Specialist, Indiana Department of Education

“I assigned this book to my undergraduate public health class because Duncan Van Dusen does a much better job than our textbook in distilling what matters, especially as it relates to physical activity and nutrition in the school environment.”
—
Dr. Rachelle Chiang, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Texas

“Fun read and addresses something that is truly needed. As a career public health official, this book speaks to me and I hope others will find it as insightful.”
—
David Ginsburg, Director, UC CalFresh (retired)

“Finally–a book that clearly articulates why health education is just as important (or perhaps even more important) than any other school subject.”
—
Denise Herrera, PhD in Health Education and Behavioral Health and Former Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

“A quick read and a must read. It makes a compelling case that schools need to prioritize both health education and SEL skills to ensure healthy kids who can fulfill their potential and offers practical suggestions any school can implement.”
—
Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach For America, CEO and Co-Founder of Teach For All

About the Author

Duncan Van Dusen is the Founder and CEO of CATCH Global Foundation, whose evidence-based “Whole Child” health programs reach over 15,000 schools and more than 3 million children annually. He has consulted with hundreds of schools on creating a culture of wellness, and speaks regularly on health behavior theory, health education, and the youth vaping epidemic.

Van Dusen completed his undergraduate education at Princeton University and earned his MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health. He has authored peer-reviewed scientific papers in

Public Health Reports and
Journal of School Health. He enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and empowering his own daughters to exercise, avoid tobacco, and eat their vegetables.