The art of health

There is a general trend in education today to stress "the basics,"--often defined as reading, writing and arithmetic. Health-related professionals have made a valid case that health may be more "basic" than any of these areas. And professionals in the arts have good historical evidence that art, dance and music are "basic" to human existence. Too often the different disciplines are pitted against one another to compete for money and prestige. The intent of this paper is to show how two "basics" can be used in an interdisciplinary approach to help teach children. Using art to teach about health can be an effective and interesting way to promote health discussions.