Health education: An action for the learning and development of healthy skills and behaviors

In the first years of a child's life, the brain develops more rapidly. The different environmental conditions where children are born, grow, learn and live, through the modulation of gene expression, influence the developing brain. During childhood, the development of several skills takes place, and the foundations for the child's physical and mental health are constituted, which will influence the capacity for resilience against adverse circumstances, lifelong learning and behavior in adolescence, adulthood and aging. Emotions are important for survival, and survival is related to establishing social interactions and adapting to a certain environment. Acknowledging emotions and validating them is an important path to emotional regulation. Emotions are strong determinants in decision-making. It is up to parents and educators to help children in their emotional development. It is necessary to understand that the strengthening of the functional neural networks that act as a framework for cognitive and executivefunctions occurs through the experiences that take place throughout life. Thus, executive functions and self-regulation, being fundamental elements for the individual's life performance, develop. Only in adulthood will the networks involved in executive functions be fully activated and connected. Executive functions can be trained, and the lack of learning these functions during childhood and adolescence generates adults with impaired abilities to maintain a job, for example, with difficulties in relationships and social interaction.A retrospective look indicates that actions that support the development of these functions should begin in childhood. The school, as an affective and safe space for child development