Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the perception of “health” and “illness” of primary school children?

Abstract

This work studies the evolution of the conceptions of “health” and “illness” in a group of Primary Education students (8-9 years old) before and nine months after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic (January and November 2020, respectively). For this purpose, open-ended questionnaires and drawings were used as data collection tools. Results suggest that the pandemic strengthened the relationship that children established between health and good nutrition, physical activity and feelings of joy. In contrast, illness was more closely linked with sedentary attitudes. After months of pandemic, students related health and illness mainly to physical factors, leaving aside social and/or emotional ones, thus evidencing the need to work with an interdisciplinary approach on the multidimensionality of these concepts and leaving behind a normative and guilt-ridden education.