Health and wellness/Weightlifting

Class overview

School-based health education helps students acquire functional health knowledge, strengthen attitudes and beliefs, and provide opportunities for practicing skills needed to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors throughout their lives.

Research shows a strong connection between healthy behaviors and academic achievement (e.g., grades, standardized tests, graduation rates, attendance). Student behaviors and experiences set the stage for adult health. Health behaviors and experiences related to violence, and substance use are consistently linked to poor grades and test scores and lower educational attainment. In turn, providing health education can help youth develop positive well-being, academic success, and healthy outcomes into adulthood.

Healthy students are better learners, and academic achievement bears a lifetime of benefits for health. However, youth risk behaviors, such as physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behaviors, tobacco use, alcohol use, and other drug use, are consistently linked to poor grades and test scores and lower educational attainment. Access the results of the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey for more insight related to these behaviors.