Dear Parents, Guardians, Caregivers,

Welcome to Health Literacy Month! Research has shown that healthy kids learn better! SHAPE America –Society of Health and Physical Educators defines health literacy asthe ability to access, understand, appraise, apply and advocate for health information and services to maintain or enhanceone’s own health and the health of others. In the spirit of Health Literacy Month, I encourage you toraise the level of your teen’s health literacy in the following ways:

  • Have a conversation with your teen about what influences their health behavior. Teaching them to have greater awareness of internal and external influences can lead them to make healthier choices!
  • Discuss your teen’s history of vaccinations. You can findaccurate medical information by reviewing therecommended immunization schedules from the Healthy Children website.
  • Ask your teen how their relationships are going. Are they getting along with their family and friends? If yes, what does your teen attribute this to? If not, brainstorm how he or she might use assertive communication skills to resolve conflicts peacefully. You can find information on assertiveness on the Kids Health website.
  • Plan a healthy dinner with your teen. Take him or her grocery shopping with you. After reading food labels, decide together why you are making those specific food choices over other options. For information on deciphering food labels, you can refer back to Kids Health.
  • Set a healthy goal that your family is willing to adopt. Make it realistic (such as eating breakfast together, eating more fresh vegetables each week, reducing screen time and being more physically active together, practicing healthy driving behaviors, etc.). Create a manageable plan of action to accomplish the goal. What barriers might interfere with achieving the goal? Together, brainstorm strategies to address the barriers.
  • Plan a time with your teen for the family to practice being physical activity together. Need ideas? Check out SHAPE America’s archived Activity Calendars.
  • Have a conversation with your teen about a healthy behavior your family values (wearing a seat belt when driving, not smoking, calming down before trying to resolve an argument, and exercising regularly). Then determine how your family might advocate forthat healthy behavior (start a conversation with extended family members, invite friends to a family hike for fun, orfinancially contribute to a local health organization that supports your values). Finally, discuss with your teen, the joy and satisfaction of supporting other people to live more healthfully.
  • Health education class is where students learn to use information and develop skills to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors, which can enhance their learning and quality of life! Starting this month and beyond, I encourage you tooffer your support in promoting the importance of health and physical education in our school. May you and your family share good health and raise the dialogue of becoming more health literate!

Sincerely,
(Health Education Teacher’s Name)