Effects of Healthy Life Practice Education on Reported Health Behaviors Among Fourth-Grade Elementary School Students in South Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of healthy life practice (HLP) education on reported health behaviors, including health promotion, disease prevention, and safety among fourth-grade elementary school students. A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design was used. The 101 recruited participants from two schools were assigned to the intervention group ( n = 51) that received 10 health education sessions and the control group ( n = 50) that did not receive the intervention. Significant differences in health behaviors were observed between the two groups ( t = 2.563, p = .012), specifically for disease prevention ( t = 2.178, p = .032) and safety ( t = 2.711, p = .008). However, no significant between-group differences were observed in health promotion ( t = .270, p = .788). Educational interventions aimed at changing HLP-related health behaviors may be effective for elementary schoolchildren.