Health-promoting schools: an opportunity for oral health promotion
Abstract: Schools provide an important setting for promoting health, As they reach over 1 billion children worldwide and, through them, the schools staff, Families and the community as a whole./ Health promotion messages can be reinforced throughout the most influential stages of children’s lives, enabling them to develop lifelong sustainable attitudes and skills./ Poor oral health can have a detrimental effect on children’s quality of life, their performance at schools and their success in later life./ This paper examines the global need for promoting oral health through schools./ The WHO global schools health Initiative and the potential for setting up oral health programmes in schools using the health-promoting school framework are discussed./ The challenges faced in promoting oral health in schools in both developed and developing countries are highlighted./ The importance of using a validated framework and appropriate methodologies for the evaluation of school oral health projects is emphasized./