A Study on the Effectiveness of Health Education in Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Practices among Students

Abstract

Health education plays an important role in developing healthy attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours among students. The school and college years are critical stages for establishing lifestyle practices that may influence health throughout adulthood. Students are increasingly exposed to unhealthy dietary habits, physical inactivity, inadequate sleep, stress, excessive screen time, and other behaviours that may negatively affect their physical and psychological well-being. Health education can provide students with appropriate knowledge and practical skills to make informed decisions regarding nutrition, physical activity, personal hygiene, mental health, sleep, and disease prevention. This article examines the effectiveness of health education in promoting healthy lifestyle practices among students. It discusses the concept and importance of health education, major components of healthy lifestyles, the role of educational institutions, and the influence of health education programmes on students' behaviour. The article also identifies challenges in implementing health education and suggests measures for strengthening health promotion among students. Across all seven dimensions of student perception, none of the Kruskal-Wallis test statistics reached statistical significance at the 5% significance level. This demonstrates that students across Arts, Science, and Engineering streams hold broadly comparable perceptions regarding teacher support, health education, teaching methods, health service accessibility, nutrition, digital media use, and academic pressure. Effective health education, when supported by families, educational institutions, and the wider community, can contribute significantly to the development of healthier and more responsible young people.