Background: Adolescence is associated with a rise in the incidence of mental health issues. Thus, the factors, processes, and contexts that protect and promote positive mental health in adolescence are of key interest to policymakers. Objective: Our aim was twofold: First, to explore the coping strategies and sources of support that adolescents…

Physical activity and healthy eating are instrumental to a child's overall healthy development, resulting in a number of positive outcomes, like better academic performance and lower risk of depression. Yet, most young people are not meeting the recommended daily amount of physical activity, are not eating enough vegetables or fruits, and are…

Objective: There is recent evidence that exercise referral schemes (ERSs) are beginning to permit self-referral access. Notwithstanding this, to date it is unknown whether key referral characteristics, such as age, gender and socioeconomic status are associated with a greater likelihood of self-referring to an ERS, and whether self-referral…

Rheumatic diseases are known to be associated with the development of metabolic syndrome, which increases mortality rates due to cardiovascular complications. Although a variety of self-management programs for rheumatic diseases have been developed, few have concentrated on metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to develop and verify a blended (a…

Background: Researchers within transdisciplinary fields examine physical literacy; however, substantial changes have been suggested regarding the evaluation and reporting of physical literacy within health education. Purpose: This systematic review provides an overview of a) physical literacy literature published in the U.S.; b) scholars,…

Background: Whole school, whole community, whole child (WSCC) approaches to education address contexts beyond school that influence young people's academic and life outcomes. These recommended approaches demand mobilization of an array of actors, but such mobilization is challenging. Little research has explored strategies for convening national…

The Fit Family Challenge, a web-based healthy lifestyle program, was developed to motivate families to participate in more physical activity by tracking their behaviors and by providing them with educational materials and community events to attend with their families. This article is an account of the steps taken and the efforts needed to make a…

Background: Health initiatives have been established in many workplaces to promote healthy behaviors among employees. Health Self-Empowerment Theory (HSET) suggests that personal, modifiable factors, such as motivation to engage in healthy behaviors, are pathways to increasing such behaviors. Purpose: The present study examined the effects of the…

To contain the spread of COVID-19, engagement in protective behaviors across the population is of great importance. The present study investigated protective behavior intentions during the early phases of COVID-19 in Germany (February 2-April 3, 2020) as a function of threat level and age using data from 4,940 participants in the EUCLID project.…

Background: Place-based efforts offer promise in reducing childhood obesity. Yet, lack of public demand and support may hinder implementation. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether the emphasis on place-based solutions, community-wide strategies, and multisector engagement in the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) initiative would shift…

In a British Overseas territory, a smoking cessation program was implemented in 2014 and had not been evaluated since inception. The problem that was addressed in this study was that despite the implementation of the "I Can Quit" program, it was unknown which curriculum and instructional strategy interventions participants thought were…

Background: Out-of-school time (OST) programs are an important setting for supporting student health and academic achievement. This study describes the prevalence and characteristics of school-based OST programs, which can inform efforts to promote healthy behaviors in this setting. Methods: A nationally representative sample of public elementary…

In sub-Saharan Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have far-reaching consequences for 550 million children under the age of 18. This UNICEF Child Alert examines how the disease and measures put in place to contain it are impacting the lives of children across the region, exacerbating existing threats like conflict, climate change and…

Policy, systems, and environmental change are now widely accepted as critical to sustaining improvements in community health. Evidence suggests that such systems-level change is most effective when driven by community-based partnerships. Yet, after more than three decades of building community-based partnership work, health inequities have…

Nearly all lifelong smokers start as children or young adults, and the tobacco industry targets these specific age groups. A key public health effort to limit the use of tobacco products by people under the age of 21 years is the promotion of the "Tobacco 21" initiative. This initiative promotes and supports efforts to establish bills…