Content Analysis of the Science Textbooks of Iranian Junior High School Course in terms of the Components of Health Education

Background Providing healthcare for students is one of the primary duties of the states. This study aimed to analyze the contents of the science textbooks of Junior High School course in terms of the components of health education in Iran. Materials and Methods This descriptive study was conducted through content analysis. To collect data, a researcher-made check list including: physical health, nutritional health, the environment, environmental health, family health, accidents and safety, mobility, physical education, mental health, prevention of risky behavior, control and prevention of diseases, disabilities, public health and school health, was used. The samples were the science textbooks of Junior High School course (7th, 8th and 9th grades). Analysis unit was all pages of the textbooks (texts, pictures and exercises). Descriptive method (frequency table, percentage, mean and standard deviation [SD]) was used to analyze the data and non-parametric Chi-square test was used to investigate the probable significant differences between the components. Results The results showed that the authors of sciences textbooks of Junior High School course have paid most attention to the component of control and prevention of diseases (21.10%) and have paid no attention to the component of "mental health". Also, there were significant differences among the components of physical health, family health, the environment and environmental health in terms of to be addressed in the science textbooks of Junior High School (P < 0.05). Conclusion It can be generally concluded that the health education components are not equally covered in the sciences textbooks of Junior High School course and some of them either have not received any attention or just a little.