Bettina Pikó
Children's perceptions of health and illness: images and lay concepts in preadolescence
University of Szeged
despite growing body research childrens concepts illness many basic questions still remain study aims describe 8 11year olds lay beliefs health illness health promotion disease prevention children responded openended questions health illness drawing writing responses two primary schools two small towns bks county hungary invited participate sample consisted 128 primary school students 57 males 43 females one class grades 3 4 5 within location consistent previous findings children sample considerable knowledge health illness disease risks addition seem health conscious hold positive attitudes toward health health promotion many respondents demonstrated biomedical approach health time holistic views health also common childrens past experiences eg trivial infections may play important role concepts disease causation ideas health promotion especially varied children describing complex guidelines