Children’s Understanding of Biology and Health

Citation

Siegal, M. and Peterson, C.C. (2000), "Children’s Understanding of Biology and Health", Health Education, Vol. 100 No. 6, pp. 269-270. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2000.100.6.269.1

Much is written in health promotion about the importance of “bottom‐up” approaches which “start where people are” and “empower” them to make their own decisions about their own health. However, some of those who are sorely underrepresented in most accounts of their own health are children and young people. Most of what we know comes from research and theory carried out on their behalf, “in their own best interests”, pronouncing on their needs, issues, and problems from a professional point of view. We know relatively little about what children and young people themselves think about health. So this book provides a welcome rebalancing act.

The title is curious, as the book covers adolescents nearly as much as children. It is a weighty and scholarly tome, highly rewarding for the serious inquirer, but not an easy read. The chapters cover a wide variety of topics, all of them complex and challenging. They include children’s understandings of mind‐body relationships, biology, life and death, the causes of disease, pain, food, the body, medicine and medical encounters. They are based on thorough reviews of the research, including empirical research by the authors themselves. Research techniques cover a wide range, such as interview surveys, including experimental studies, and case histories. However, the work reviewed contains some odd omissions. There is no mention of the very valuable work that is being done in the UK and Europe by the likes of Pridmore, McWhirter, and Wetton, to name but a few, which uses “illuminative” or “projective” techniques such as asking children to “draw and write” or fill in “bubble dialogue” to convey their thoughts, beliefs and feelings without too much adult interference. This work is attempting to overcome the barriers involved in using more traditional methods such as interviews and questionnaires, which are often inappropriate and misleading when used with children. Such work is now widely publicized in health related journals, and it is odd to see no acknowledgement of it in such an otherwise valuable and thorough set of accounts as this book represents.

The important unifying theme that runs through the book is the idea that children’s understandings in these areas make sense, and are to some extent adaptive to their well being and survival. It also challenges the traditional notions of “stages”, which suggest that young children cannot grasp complex ideas such as contamination and contagion as causes of illness. Many of the studies cited in this book show that very young children have at least a skeletal understanding of such complex matters. Some of the chapters make further suggestions as to how their findings may be of use to professionals working with children and young people. The consensus is that it is vital to take the opinions of the young seriously, respect their abilities to theorize and understand, and consult them on matters of importance to them. This is an important message for those engaged in health education, because as one set of authors says, “an active interest in their domain may stand a better chance than memorized “dos and don’ts” to translate into sensible health practices”. It would have been useful to have more meat on the bones of such tantalizing suggestions, but unfortunately the book is almost entirely written by psychologists, who are excellent on the theory but less helpful about practical action. Greater involvement from teachers, educators and others involved at the sharp end of implementation might have increased its working relevance for professionals. It is, however, a vital and valuable book that that everyone who works with children and young people should consult in depth.