Preschool children's conceptions of health and health behaviors

Conceptions of health and health related behaviors of 41 four and five year olds were explored, using a picture-interview guide. Areas of interest included feeling tone associated with health, identification of children who are healthy, health promotion behaviors, behaviors deleterious to health, and individuals who help children stay healthy. Subjects' responses to selected questions were scored; choices from groups of pictures concerned with health promotion behaviors and persons who help in maintaining health were ranked, depending on order of selection. Most subjects were able to make the correct association between feeling tone and health status, and determine health status of depicted children. Health promotion behaviors selected--in descending order of mean ranking--were eating, visiting the doctor, brushing teeth, sleeping, running, and washing hands. Most subjects could correctly identify behaviors hazardous to health. Chi-square revealed no significant differences in scores or rankings by age or sex. Subjects in the lowest of the three family income groups tended to have lower scores.