Children, empowerment and health promotion: some new directions in research and practice

We focus on the goal of health promotion to empower persons to alter the conditions that affect their health. The conception of empowerment applied to children implies a fundamental change in the manner in which children are perceived. We propose that it demands a shift from thinking about children as recipients of health promotion efforts on their behalf to children as partners in health promotion whose views and concerns about health are accepted as valid in their own right and whose competence to make and implement decisions is recognized. Our intention is to stimulate critical discussion of the place and role of children in health promotion and to suggest some new directions in research and practice.