Certain Harmful Health Misconceptions of Junior High School Students Attending Public Schools in Metropolitan Areas

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of certain harmful health misconceptions among junior high school students attending public schools in two distinct metropolitan areas of the United States. A health knowledge inventory in two separate forms was constructed, and either Form A or Form B was administered to 4,852 junior high school students from the two distinct metropolitan areas. On the basis of an analysis of the data obtained in this investigation, junior high school students subscribed to many harmful health misconceptions, regardless of metropolitan area, sex, grade level, or number of semesters of health instruction.