A great deal of the reason why the 50's were so important comes from the fact that much of what we think of as Health Education was thought up and studied and articulated in that time.

Elena Sliepcevich was a key figure in developing much of what is considered essential curriculum for the health education in the United States.  She directed the School Health Education Study which was completed in 1969 and again outlined much of what is now considered essential for Health classes in today's schools.

The 50's were also important simply because there was a great deal of public pressure to begin some type of health education in schools including rudimentary sex education, etc.  This led to the availability of funding and political capital that made it possible to add Health to the curriculum of public schools throughout the country.