This exploratory study examined the influence of residential background and gender on university student drinking patterns. A questionnaire was distributed to 255 kinesiology and physical education students. Rural students (n=104) were more likely than urban students (n=151) to drink at outdoor parties or in vehicles during their first experience…

This study revealed factors associated with reproductive health risk behavior among high school students in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The survey was conducted among high school students from grades 9 through 12 at 2 schools in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands. The questions asked inquired about knowledge, attitude, and…

Identifying students at risk for violating alcohol policies could help college administrators minimize many problems. In this study, 154 male college freshmen [mean age 18.01 (SD = 0.50); 63% (n = 54) Caucasian], 68 of whom had been adjudicated for violating alcohol policies, completed an initial questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics…

This study used a community-wide survey of adolescents to compare adolescent perceptions of parental support, knowledge, and authoritative decision making in samples of Hmong and European Americans. Additional analyses considered variation in parental influence on adolescent outcomes across these groups. The results suggested that Hmong American…

On 16 January 2002, the United Kingdom House of Commons Select Committee published a report entitled "Tackling Obesity in England". Drawing on insights from the work of Bernstein, Bourdieu and Foucault, this article will suggest that the report provides an example "par excellence" of the way in which "the body" (our…

Exercise has an important role to play in the prevention of child and adolescent obesity. Recent school-based interventions have struggled to achieve meaningful and lasting changes to exercise levels. Theorists have suggested that this may, in part, be due to the failure to incorporate psychosocial mediators as they relate to behaviour change.…

The goal of this study was to compare HIV risk behaviors of amphetamine and non-amphetamine injectors at syringe exchange programs (SEP) in the United States and to identify factors associated with injection risk. This analysis is based on data from a random cross-section of participants at 13 SEPs in different parts of the country. All interviews…

The rapid growth of the HIV epidemic in China has raised a number of concerns among health care providers, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This article (a) briefly discusses the HIV epidemic in China, (b) explains why Chinese NGOs need to join the fight against the epidemic, (c) describes the development of an…

The assumptions of two social cognition models, the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) and the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974) are examined in 2 samples of Turkish university students: sexually active and sexually inactive. For sexually inactive participants, perceived benefits of condom use and self-efficacy beliefs regarding condom…

This article describes a protocol that was effective in collecting media-use pattern and sensitive health data from young adolescents. Students from three public school districts in the southeastern United States were recruited to participate in a study of the impact of the media on adolescents' sexual health. Using a 34-page mailed survey,…

Objective: The research objective was to identify how healthy eating was understood in a disadvantaged community and how barriers to healthy eating might be overcome. Design: Participatory action research. Setting: Communities in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, one of the most deprived areas in the UK. Method: Trainees on a participative methods course…

Purpose: This study reported a qualitative analysis of health-seeking behaviors of community-dwelling elderly Chinese Americans on the influences of family network, cultural values, and immigrant experience in their use of health resources. Barriers to health care, pathway of health care, and adaptation of health care by use of self-treatment and…

Using a semi-structured survey and convenience sample of pregnant/recently delivered Hispanic (n = 453) and non-Hispanic (n = 904) women in four California counties, this study compared rates of timely prenatal care (PNC) initiation, HIV test counseling, test offering, and test acceptance in PNC between Hispanic and non-Hispanic women. Hispanic…

A sample of 490 high school students from 81 schools in Michigan participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental Web site. The experimental Web site provided exposure to educational material about the process of organ donation and organ transplantation. The control Web site provided…

This paper describes a health education program entitled "Young Consumer" project, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Cyprus Consumer Association between March and June 2004. The aim of the project was to promote a healthy lifestyle among a group of Cypriot primary school pupils (11-12 years old). Participants were…