New York, NY, December 23, 1998¬America's high school health textbooks fail to convey sound, accurate, and balanced information about environmental health issues. So says a study published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Health Education. The study was conducted by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a New York-based public health advocacy group.
ACSH's study evaluated six chapters on environmental health in five popular high school health textbooks. Each chapter was rated on four criteria: accuracy, completeness, adherence to scientific method, and balance. More weaknesses than strengths were identified for five of the six chapters, and at least 50 percent of the reveiwers' evaluations were unfavorable for most of the four criteria. The mean overall grades for all six chapters ranged from 1.3 to 2.1 out of a possible 4.0.
"The results are disturbing but not surprising," said ACSH President Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "In recent years many reports have criticized the coverage of environmental health issues in school textbooks. Those reports have found the information offered to students to be biased, alarmist, and even erroneous. Such textbooks deny young people the fundamental knowledge they need to make sense of environmental health issues. Instead of offering them the sound, basic information critical for evaluating more complex scientific issues, these books leave students stranded in a swamp of misinformation."
Bias, exaggeration, and errors of fact were among the most serious problems found in the chapters studied. The chapters' poor coverage of such topics as nuclear power, air pollution, ozone depletion, and the 1978 environmental "crisis" at Love Canal received the most criticism from reviewers.
According to Alicia Lukachko, ACSH's Assistant Director of Public Health, "The topics receiving the worst coverage are those clouded by controversy brought on by the emotional appeals of activist groups. When you look closely at many environmental issues, you find health scares built on unfounded claims posing as truth. In reality, though, there are many unknowns in science: You can't categorize everything simply as 'bad' or 'good.' Students¬and the public as a whole¬should be presented with facts, not fears. That way, they will be equipped to make their own informed decisions."
The ACSH study also noted that many of the authors and reviewers of health-related textbooks lack the relevant scientific expertise necessary to assure high quality coverage of environmental topics.
"Common sense tells us that authors and reviewers of any specialized textbook should have appropriate qualifications," said Dr. Whelan. "When an author lacks the proper expertise, that author's evaluation of a topic is limited to a very superficial level. The absence of environmental health experts from the prepublication review process for high school health textbooks needs to be changed. Students deserve to be taught the most current and accurate information available."
ACSH is currently conducting a separate study evaluating the health-related sections of high school environmental science textbooks.
For a copy of the ACSH report on high school health textbooks, call 212-362-7044.