Healthy lifestyle in the primary school: a systematic review

Abstract

The school environment has the potential to influence both the health and well-being of students. In this regard, numerous studies have attempted to implement and evaluate interventions to promote healthy lifestyle habits in primary education. However, many of them have been developed outside of the curricular areas, without considering the value of these areas in promoting such habits. Therefore, the objective of this article is to analyse the interventions carried out to improve healthy lifestyle habits in primary education students within the curricular space between 2015-2022. For this purpose, a systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA statement. The article selection process yielded a total of 24 articles to analyse, in which a descriptive analysis and content analysis were performed. The following variables were analysed: population, subject, intervention agent, , intervention structure, type of activities, training, family involvement, additional tasks, and resources used. The overall results confirm the lack of a declarative framework on the aspects or dimensions that healthy lifestyle habits encompass in educational interventions in primary education. However, the analysis concludes that there are elements related to physical activity, nutrition, emotional well-being, and hygiene.

Keywords: healthy lifestyle habits, primary education, curriculum, educational program, intervention.