State of Menstrual Health Education in 2024: Content Analysis of US K-12 Public School Education Standards

Overview & Synopsis

Background: Exploratory study aiming to assess the prevalence and time of initiation of menstrual health curriculum in US public school education standards by state. Methods: US public school Kindergarten-12th grade education standards from each state's Department of Education website, including D.C. (n = 51), were searched for menstruation, menstrual, menses, menopause, period, menarche, reproduction, puberty, and growth and development. Results: 25.5% (n = 13) of US education standards include menstruation. Of these, constructs of comprehensive menstrual health were recorded including abnormal menstruation (n = 6), menstrual hygiene (n = 6), menopause (n = 1), and stigma (n = 7). Education is initiated in 3rd-5th grade (n = 6) and 6th-8th grade (n = 7). One state required boys and girls to be taught separately. Parents opt-out choice is allowed in (n = 6) and (n = 6) requires certified teachers. Policy Implications: Isolating menstrual education as an independent framework is needed to advocate for educational inclusion in US public schools. Conclusions: Menstrual health education is profoundly rare in US K-12 public education standards, despite 50 million students being impacted. Furthermore, comprehensive menstrual education does not currently exist in US education standards.