Recent evidence suggests that the majority of the adult population fails to achieve the recommended target of 30-minutes moderate intensity exercise, days a week. This includes university students who often have the time to engage in physical activity. The aim of this study was to determine exercise motives for a UK-based student population. The…

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an e-mail-delivered program to promote nutrition and physical activity in African American college students. Participants: Forty-seven students (76% female, aged 18-20 years). Methods: Students participated in a 24-week randomized controlled trial, receiving either general health…

Decades of research have identified dozens of programs that are effective in helping young people reduce their risk for pregnancy, HIV, and STDs. These evidence-based programs utilize strategies that include the provision of accurate, honest information about abstinence as well as contraception and can serve as the foundation for comprehensive sex…

The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between youth assets and neighborhood environmental variables and future no-tobacco use among youth; examining differences by gender. Five waves of annual data were collected from 1,111 youth randomly selected to participate in the Youth Asset Study (YAS). A marginal logistic regression model…

Professionals have debated the use of the term binge drinking over the past couple of decades, yet little attention has been paid to college student perceptions. We explored how students at one university qualitatively defined binge drinking; whether their own definitions coincided with those adopted by researchers; and whether students' own…

Purpose: Alcohol stands in an ambiguous relationship to sports, and there is a common belief that participation in sports prevents alcohol consumption. Although this is not always the case, sports clubs can be important settings for health promoting alcohol policy interventions .The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of implementing…

Regular family meals have been shown to reduce adolescents' engagement in various risk behaviors. In this article, we comprehensively examine the literature to review the association between family meals and eight adolescent risk outcomes: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs; aggressive and/or violent behaviors; poor school performance;…

Involvement in health-endangering behaviors is considered a reflection of college students' psychosocial development; however, not all students participate in these activities. Emotion skills, such as the ability to interpret and manage emotions, may serve as a protective factor against risk-taking behavior among emerging adults. We compared the…

Adolescence is a critical developmental stage and an opportunity to set a positive course for future health and well-being. Adolescence may be the "last best chance" to address some of the behaviors that can have significant repercussions for an individual's health trajectory, specifically the path to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Why should…

We investigate whether the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region ("5HTTLPR"), a gene associated with environmental sensitivity, moderates the association between smoking and drinking patterns at adolescents' schools and their corresponding risk for smoking and drinking themselves. Drawing on the school-based design of the National…

The majority of mothers in Ireland provide formula milk to their infants during the initial weeks postpartum; however, data are lacking on their formula feeding practices and support needs. This prospective Dublin-based observational study, which included 450 eligible mother-term infant pairs recruited and followed up to six months postpartum,…

The National Blindness Prevention Program in Mali has broadcast messages on the radio about trachoma as part of the country's trachoma elimination strategy since 2008. In 2011, a radio impact survey using multi-stage cluster sampling was conducted in the regions of Kayes and Segou to assess radio listening habits, coverage of the broadcasts,…

Objective: This study aimed to determine women's reported health behaviours (physical activity, diet, weight management) before and during pregnancy, and to identify sources of health information. Design: Retrospective study incorporating quantitative (a self-completed survey) and qualitative (one-on-one interviews) methods. Methodology:…

Background: Obesity and associated chronic diseases are increasing in frequency in African populations that also have a high burden of disease from infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Obesity and diabetes mellitus are common in Swaziland, Southern Africa, where >10% of children under the age of five are already obese.…

In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults' health behaviours. This paper…