Analysis of the implementation of health education in teacher training: a systematic review of the literature

Purpose The aim of the present article is to perform a systematic review of the scientific literature on Health Education (HE) in the initial training of teachers. A systematic review of the literature promotes knowledge of the state of the art of research. This will allow researchers and educators to work on Health Education on a scientific basis. Design/methodology/approach The PRISMA technique was used to find and exhaustively review 19 articles published in the Web of Science Core Collection in a period of 10 years (2013–2023), limiting the research category and area of knowledge: “Education and Education Research.” Also, documents written in English and Spanish were considered, and the search was restricted to only scientific articles. The article is shaped around five dimensions: countries and university contexts, topic covered, health education (HE) in the initial training of teachers, strategies for working with HE and conclusions of the research. Findings The results show that the scientific production on Health Education in the initial training of teachers is very scarce. Nevertheless, the study has contributed by increasing the knowledge and scientific literature on teaching HE in the training of teachers. The need to develop specific programs, train future teachers in HE (especially in more specific areas such as the development of pedagogic skills, and knowledge about the management of stress and psychological well-being), are underlined. Originality/value It is concluded that HE is an indispensable area in the training of teachers, as it encourages co-responsibility in the self-care of their health and the promotion of healthy habits. Also, it is the first international systematic review about the topic, and it provides a current, complete, global and in-depth view on the scientific publications found in the most important scientific database to date (Web of Science).