Preschool health education: impact on health knowledge and health locus of control

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a comprehensive health education program on young children's health knowledge and health locus of control. A secondary purpose of this investigation was to determine any relationship between children's health knowledge, health locus of control, and mother's age at first parturition. Children who were 4 to 5 years of age and enrolled in the Tyler Independent School District Project Head Start participated in the quasi-experimental study. Analysis of the data obtained from the 70 children in the experimental and comparison groups indicated that a preschool health curriculum provided in nineteen 1-hour weekly session does not significantly impact young children's responses to the Health Knowledge Scale or the Pictorial Children's Health Locus of Control Scale. In addition, no significant relationship was found between children's health knowledge, health locus of control, and mother's age at first parturition.