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Perceptions of Health: a Developmental Trend in Indian School Children

Author

Listed:
  • Meena Hariharan

    (University of Hyderabad)

  • Sandra Roshni Monteiro

    (University of Hyderabad)

  • D. Asha

    (University of Hyderabad)

  • C. Raghavendra Rao

    (University of Hyderabad)

Abstract

The potential for children to be used as agents of change in health research and practice is being increasingly valued. To reach this objective, it is foremost to gauge children’s perceptions about health, based on which future pathways to health promotion programs may be built which are easily comprehensible to children. Therefore, this study was conceptualised to understand the way school children perceive health and track the changes in their comprehension of health. Basing on a cross-sectional design, a sample of 667 children belonging to Class 6 to 10 from three different Indian schools were selected. These children having similar socioeconomic status and education curricula were asked to respond to an open-ended question—What do you understand by ‘being healthy’? The obtained qualitative data were analysed by means of content analysis to explore categories or themes of responses. Divergence of conceptualisation was measured through calculation of entropy. The three emerged major themes—Meaning of health, Ways to be healthy, and Indices of health— represented children’s health perceptions. The entropy values revealed a steep rise in the divergence in perceptions of health of Class 10 children compared to plateau in perceptions of children of lower classes. Implication and limitations of this study were also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Meena Hariharan & Sandra Roshni Monteiro & D. Asha & C. Raghavendra Rao, 2019. "Perceptions of Health: a Developmental Trend in Indian School Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(4), pages 1351-1368, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12187-018-9593-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-018-9593-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Onyango-Ouma, W. & Aagaard-Hansen, J. & Jensen, B.B., 2005. "The potential of schoolchildren as health change agents in rural western Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1711-1722, October.
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