Preface

Education is one of the strongest predictors of health and wealth. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a challenge to authorities, teachers, students, and families worldwide. Over the last year, there has been a transition to digital teaching and learning. In the educational field, school closures led to the deployment of distance learning modalities and actions directed at preserving the health and wellbeing of students [1].

This book is a follow-up to the previous edition, which published in 2018. *Health and Academic Achievement - New Findings* includes six chapters authored by academics from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America who provide a fresh look at education and health in present times. The book begins with an introductory chapter that points out the importance of well-being to take advantage of education and presents some recent articles that address the need to provide fair educational opportunities to children and adolescents at risk of mental health problems [2]. Considering the advantages and limitations of statistical approaches [3], the book includes a meta-analysis of thirteen studies that look at the influence of some moderators on the association between mental health and academic achievement. The reader will also find an interesting chapter about education in children younger than 3 years that discusses a program that focuses on the provision of quality services for these children. The chapter addresses the delivery of quality, informal early learning environments, which is one of the goals of the Nurturing Care Framework from the World Health Organization [4]. Given that rural areas remain marginalized [5], the fourth chapter explains whether the presence of a career calling predicts mental and physical health in high school teachers. Another chapter analyzes K-12 principals' perceptions on hiring licensed graduates with bachelor degrees from online teaching programs, which are becoming a new paradigm of teaching [6]. Finally, the last chapter, taking into account increased social isolation and loneliness due to physical distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, reviews the challenges induced by social isolation on mental health and academic achievement [7].

The purpose of the book *Health and Academic Achievement - New Findings* is to return to the issues that concern education and health today. We have experienced an unprecedented phenomenon with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are closer to witnessing the end of this critical situation with the support of global strategies that have prepared us to overcome the challenges imposed by the virus. The acceptability of lifestyle changes, the quality of informal early learning environments for young children, the relation between career calling and health of teachers, digital transformation in educational systems, the acceptability of online teaching degree earners, and the impact of school closure and home confinement are addressed in this book. Readers interested in education and health around the world, no matter age, country, or profession, are sure to find the information contained herein useful and relevant. I would like to thank all the contributors to this volume for their excellent work and patience during the publication process. I am also grateful to the readers for appreciating and using this work.

**Blandina Bernal-Morales, PhD,**

Institute of Neuroethology, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico
