Education Matters: Invest in Learning for Health

Federal investments in education are crucial to provide a health-literate populace, ensure student academic success, and strengthen the U.S. economy. The health and well-being of today's students is directly connected to their academic success, school completion, and their development into healthy, resilient, and productive citizens. Schools are uniquely positioned to help children and youth acquire life-long, health-promoting knowledge, skills and behaviors. Providing access to quality health education and physical education, qualified counselors and nurses, health services, and nutritious school foods will ensure that students develop these life-long skills in a safe and engaging school environment and become adults who contribute to, rather than become a burden upon the US health and welfare systems. This brief report provides statistics illustrating the need to invest in education to reduce the burden on the cost to federal health programs, improve student achievement, and strengthen the economy by increasing the productivity of the workforce, lowering unemployment rates, and improving earnings and tax revenue.