Environmental health education, a necessity in the professional training of early childhood educators

Abstract

Introduction: early childhood educators must recognize the relationship between children’s well‑being and the quality of the environments in which they develop; therefore, environmental health education should be included in their professional training. Objective: to diagnose the presence of environmental health education in the professional training of early childhood educators at the University of Pinar del Río “Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca”. Method: a qualitative approach was used, integrating theoretical methods such as historical‑logical analysis, analytical‑synthetic reasoning, and modeling, together with empirical methods including document analysis, observation, and surveys, as well as descriptive statistical procedures. Results: it was found that the professional training process is insufficiently utilized to promote environmental health education, revealing shortcomings in both intra‑ and interdisciplinary approaches. Conclusion: the findings highlight the importance of considering environmental health education as a transformative framework to strengthen the comprehensive training of early childhood professionals. Therefore, existing limitations must be addressed, and the training process should be redesigned with a unified approach that balances the objectives of health education and environmental education.