This study sought to address underenrollment and late entry to early intervention by identifying factors associated with parental concern and services for developmental delays. The authors analyzed responses from 27,566 parents of children from birth to age 5 from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health to quantify and to identify factors…

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review of effectiveness, and barriers and facilitators, of initial teacher training to promote health and well-being in schools. Design: Systematic review of the literature. Method: A total of 20 bibliographic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Social Science Citation Index. Studies were…

A growing body of research links student health and academic achievement. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recognizes this and calls on states to support student health and wellness and ensure safe, supportive learning environments. This National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Policy Update explains how states can take…

ACECQA has published the second in its series of occasional papers, analysing one of the most challenging quality areas -- Children's Health and Safety. Quality Area 2 addresses one of the primary objectives of the National Quality Framework -- to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children attending education and care services. The paper…

Food insecurity (FI) affects millions of people in the United States and is associated with medical problems, as well as poorer physical and emotional-behavioral adjustment. Failure to thrive is a condition where children fail to gain an appropriate amount of weight, and it can cause long-term effects on cognitive and psychomotor development.…

The frequency of selective eating and nutritional deficiency was studied among 22 children with autism and an age matched typically developing control group. Children with autism ate fewer foods on average than typically developing children. (33.5 vs. 54.5 foods, P less than 0.001) As compared to typical controls, children with autism had a higher…

In this article we present a new composite index of child health, applied to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Africa, one of the areas of the planet most castigated by poverty. Our index has been constructed attending to the variables defined in the Goals of the Millennium Declaration. For this purpose we will use the P2 distance method for…

Child wellness needs to be understood holistically so that children and youth from high-poverty environments can succeed in schooling and life. Teachers who foster advocacy in themselves are well equipped to teach students to take ownership of their own well-being. Such advocacy can enrich the classroom curriculum and mitigate the negative effects…

Young children's eating behaviors have a direct link to their future health and attitudes regarding food. Similarly, positive nutrition during the toddler years leads to increased brain development and thus children are generally healthier (Weaver, More, & Harris, 2008). This makes eating behaviors extremely important. During the toddler years…

Obesity rates among preschool-aged children have doubled in the past 10 years, and 60% of these children spend the majority of their day in childcare facilities. Few studies have examined the quality of nutrition and physical activity practices in childcare centers as compared to family childcare homes. The purpose of this study is to determine if…

Comprehensive childhood obesity prevention (COP) strategies should include increasing school nurse involvement. This study was conducted to determine the influence of key school nurse perceptions (self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) on participation in COP practices at the individual child and school level. Florida…

Educational scholars agree that the relationship between curriculum development and practice is mitigated by complex political and cultural agendas (Goodson 1984; Vertinsky 2007). As a performing art form and physical activity, dance does not easily fit within the context of a typical school subject and is a site for ontological and…

In 2010, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), provided states with the opportunity to apply for funding to build and expand evidence-based home visiting programs in their states and to incorporate community collaboration components, referred to as early childhood comprehensive systems (ECCS). For Texas, this…

Public health insurance programs comprise a large share of federal and state government expenditure, and these programs are due to be expanded as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Despite a large literature on the effects of these programs on health care utilization and health outcomes, little prior work has examined the long-term effects of…

Though estimates vary, as many as 2 million to 3.7 million U.S. children under age 18 may have a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender parent, and about 200,000 are being raised by same-sex couples. Much of the past decade's legal and political debate over allowing same-sex couples to marry has centered on these couples' suitability as parents,…