Middle school students' concepts of health in Ontario, Canada and the British Virgin Islands and the implications for school health education

In spite of agreement that cross-cultural research is needed in the area of health, most English investigations of children's conceptions of health have involved single constituent samples from developed countries. This comparative study describes the health concepts of middle-school students in Ontario, Canada and the British Virgin Islands and the implications for school health education. The investigator examined 93 middle-school students' concepts of health as a function of the subject's region, socio-economic status, and gender. The uniquely personal nature of health is examined through student participants' mind maps whereas the collaborative concept of health is examined using focus groups. The results indicate that the middle school students' concepts of health are multi-dimensional and rooted in their daily life experiences. This investigation suggests that cross-cultural similarities in middle-school students' concepts of health may be more striking than the differences.