[The role of health promoting schools for increasing health equity]. / Die Bedeutung schulischer Gesundheitsförderung für die Erhöhung gesundheitlicher Chancengleichheit.

ABSTRACT

Socioeconomic health inequalities are a major field of action in public health and tackling them is one of its main goals. However, there has been little success in reducing these health inequalities. This points to a large research deficit. Inequalities in health are already evident in childhood and adolescence, showing that those with a low socioeconomic background have more risk factors and at the same time fewer resources than their socially more privileged peers. Although health promotion aims at achieving equity in health, interventions rarely consider the socioeconomic status and can therefore provide only little evidence regarding socioeconomically differentiated intervention effects. How can we ensure that all children and young people have equal chances to grow up healthy?In order to come closer to answering this question, it is the aim of this article to give an overview of health inequalities in childhood and adolescence and to highlight the contribution of school and school-based health promotion interventions for tackling health inequalities and increasing equity in health. School is not only a place where adolescents can always be reached, regardless of their socioeconomic background, it has the potential to both exacerbate and reduce health inequalities.