Children, empowerment and health promotion: some
new directions in research and practice
ILZEKALNINS
Department of Behavioural Science, University of Toronto, Canada
DAVID V. McQUEEN, KATHRYN C. BACKETT, LISA CURTICE and
CANDACE E. CURRIE
Research Unit in Health and Behavioural Change, Edinburgh, UK
SUMMARY
We focus on the goal of health promotion to empower
persons to alter the conditions that affect their health.
The conception of empowerment applied to children
implies a fundamental change in the manner in which
children are perceived. We propose that it demands a
shift from thinking about children as recipients of health
promotion efforts on their behalf, to children as partners
Key words: empowerment; children
in health promotion whose views and concerns about
health are accepted as valid in their own right and whose
competence to make and implement decisions is recognized.
Our intention is to stimulate critical discussion of
the place and role of children in health promotion and
to suggest some new directions in research and practic