Summary: The Importance Of Health Education

What is Health Education and Why is it Important? “Health Education is any combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). Health education is important because it increases the standard of living and its main focus is to saves lives. Health Education can influence someone’s behavior and choices. Many people in the United States make choices that are hazardous to their health because they are not enrolled in an health education class. Health education benefits children because it persuades them to make better behavior choices later in life. According to Glanz, “Smoking, participating in in risky sexual practices, drug abuse, and nonadherence to prescribed medical screening and prevention and disease management practices are some of the leading behavioral risk factors.” (Glanz, 2014) All of these factors are

“Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your lungs. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010) It also increases someone’s risk of developing a variety of cancers including lung cancer and many other respiratory diseases. One of these diseases is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Another disease that smoking can cause is Emphysema. “Emphysema is a condition in which the walls between the air sacs in your lungs lose their ability to stretch and shrink back. Your lung tissue is destroyed, making it difficult or impossible to breathe.” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014) “Because smoking cessation reduces the risk of specific diseases, it increases life expectancy. Data shows that persons who quit smoking before age 50 have one-half the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared with continuing smokers.” (Novello, A, MD,