Hawaiʻi State Department of Education

Ka ʻOihana Hoʻonaʻauao o ke Aupuni Hawaiʻi

Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Health education supports students’ health, resilience, total well-being and academic success so they may reach their aspirations, from early learning through college, career and citizenship. 

Providing students with a high-quality, comprehensive health education equips and empowers them with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to address their current and future health needs and challenges. Health literacy is essential to students’ social, emotional, mental, physical, and cognitive development.

Health literate individuals are able to find, understand and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. This contributes to resilience, well-being, healthy relationships and a positive quality of life as well as prevents and reduces the risk of disease, injury and death.

Today’s health education reflects the growing body of research that emphasizes:

  • Supporting the health, resilience and total well-being of the whole child (e.g., students’ social, emotional, mental, physical and cognitive development).
  • Developing health literacy skills aligned to National Health Education Standards.
  • Building functional knowledge with relevant and functional information aligned to Priority Risk Topics.
  • Strengthening connections with family and community.
  • Addressing students’ needs and interests through interactive and social learning experiences.
  • Nurturing attitudes, values and beliefs that support positive health behaviors through safe, inclusive and caring messages and learning environments.

The National Health Education Standards: Achieving Excellence (NHES) are fused on developing students’ health literacy skills to proficiency within and across grade levels:

  • Standard 1: Comprehending Concepts – Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health. 
  • Standard 2: Analyzing Influences – Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology and other factors on health behavior.
  • Standard 3: Accessing Information, Products, and Services – Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products and services.
  • Standard 4: Interpersonal Communication – Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.
  • Standard 5: Decision-Making – Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.
  • Standard 6: Goal-Setting – Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.
  • Standard 7: Self-Management – Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
  • Standard 8: Advocacy – Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family and community health.

While the primary focus of Health Education is the development of health skills, these skills must be addressed in conjunction with functional information in the context of priority risk topics. Standards-based health education must be age and developmentally appropriate, medically accurate and provide factual information in all priority risk topics:

  • Mental and Emotional Health.
  • Healthy Eating and Physical Activity.
  • Personal Health and Wellness.
  • Safety (Unintentional Injury Prevention).
  • Violence Prevention.
  • Tobacco Use Prevention.
  • Alcohol and Other Drug Use Prevention.
  • Sexual Health and Responsibility.

Note: Health Education in prekindergarten is aligned to the Hawai‘i Early Learning and Development Standards (HELDS).

Course Requirements for Health Education

Health education is required in all elementary grades.

Middle/intermediate schools must offer courses that allow all students to meet Hawaiʻi՚s Health Education standards and performance indicators for Grades 6-8. One semester (0.5 credits; 60 hours) of Health Education in each middle/intermediate school grade is strongly recommended but not required.

In high school, a one-semester course (0.5 credits; 60 hours) in Health Education is required for graduation. 

A variety of Health specialized elective courses (e.g., Peer Education) are available at the secondary school level.

For middle school promotion and high school graduation requirements, refer to Board Policy 105-1 Academic Program, Board Policy 102-9 Middle Level Education Promotion Policy, and Board Policy 102-15 High School Graduation Requirements and Commencement.

Wellness Guidelines for Health Education and Nutrition Promotion

Health education and nutrition promotion provide the instructional foundation that is necessary to prepare students to make lifelong healthy decisions and practice healthy behaviors. This component area of the Wellness Guidelines includes school-wide promotion of nutritious meals and snacks as well as quality health education. Click for more information about our Wellness Guidelines.

Guidelines for health education and nutrition promotion are organized around four key components:

  1. Instructional content of health education classes includes a focus on knowledge and skills that support healthy eating and is aligned with the HIDOE standards for health education.
  2. Health education is provided to students in elementary grades at least 45 minutes per week and secondary grades at least 200 minutes per week.
  3. Nutrition education includes culturally relevant activities that are ‘āina-based and hands-on, such as food preparation, taste-testing, farm visits and school gardens.
  4. All school-based marketing of foods and beverages must meet the Nutrition Guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, school publications, the exterior of vending machines, posters, banners, in-school televisions and scoreboards.

Ways Schools Promote Good Nutrition

  • Positive messages about nutritious foods are displayed on campus.
  • Vending machines for students are stocked with water only.
  • School meals are made from scratch as much as possible, including fresh baked whole-grain bread items.
  • No foods contain trans-fats.
  • Drinking water is available for free to students during meal times.
  • Classes are invited to visit the cafeteria kitchen to learn how to prepare healthy foods.
  • Healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks are promoted to students and their families.
  • Instructional gardens demonstrate how food is grown.

Want To Learn More About Health Education?

Additional information may be found in the following resources:

Contact Information

Health Education Program

Phone: (808) 784-6423

Email: [email protected] 

Resources