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In 1993 the Ministry of Education in New Zealand identified health education, jointly with physical education, as one of the seven essential learning areas of the country’s national curriculum. This article takes a critical look at some of the emerging issues during the construction and implementation of the new curriculum. Consultation is one of the vital ingredients for successful curriculum construction. It might reasonably be assumed that the views and opinions of children and young people would be sought, and that their issues and concerns might be taken into account during the process. Indications are that this does not happen; this article addresses the question of whose knowledge and what knowledge counts. The new curriculum identifies health with physical education as a single learning area. The author considers that it would be more suitable to position health with social studies, as the two subject areas have more complementary similarities between goals, processes and content.