The purpose of this formative evaluation was to examine the impact of an innovative inquiry-based science education curriculum for middle school students, called Choice, Control, and Change, that is designed to foster healthful eating and physical activity and a healthy weight through enhancing agency and competence. The 24-session curriculum…

The number of students accumulating credit card debt--and the amount of debt itself--on college campuses is increasing. If high-risk credit and health behavior are associated, health behavior interventions might apply to high-risk credit behavior. Objective: The authors' purpose was to examine these possible associations. Participants and Methods:…

Objective: To test the validity of the MacArthur Health and Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine optimal thresholds for the HBQ in predicting Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version-IV (DISC-IV)diagnoses. The roles of child sex, level of impairment, and physical health in…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the beliefs of 15-17 year-old Dutch adolescents about starting or quitting smoking and to explore their preferences regarding education concerning this topic. Design/methodology/approach: The paper shows that a total of 12 group interviews were held with 101 students in the highest classes in secondary…

"Food insecurity," which is the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times because of economic constraints, afflicts 40.6% of low-income households with children. Research shows that living in a food-insecure household can lead to negative health and developmental consequences for young children, including obesity.…

Objective: Six items were administered to a multiethnic sample of 435 middle school--age participants in a group-delivered safer sex intervention to determine their reliability and validity. Method: Exploratory analyses were followed by confirmatory factor analyses, and then correlations of scale scores with theoretically related variables were…

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics PSID, across the life course Socio Economic Status (SES) impacts future health outcomes, although the primary influence is education and not an individual's financial resources in whatever form they are received. That conclusion appears to be robust whether the financial resources are income or…

Context: Diabetes self-management is important for achieving successful health outcomes. Different levels of self-management have been reported among various populations, though little is known about ownership of equipment that can enhance accomplishment of these tasks. Purpose: This study examined diabetes self-management equipment ownership…

University researchers partnered with secondary students in West Virginia and Mali on an international science investigation to strengthen science education and public health practices. WV and Mali students made comparisons of diet, physical activity, BMI, and blood pressure gathered from study participants. Full IRB approval was provided by West…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the smoking habits of Greek elementary school students, their attitudes towards smoking, and their perceptions of the health consequences of tobacco use. Data were obtained from 1,092 elementary school students who completed a 24-item questionnaire designed for this study. Results indicated more older…

This article describes the literature-based, testable, formative Patient-Centered Culturally Sensitive Health Care Model that explains the associations between patient-centered culturally sensitive health care, health-promoting treatment behaviors, and health outcomes and statuses. An intervention program based on the model and its foundational…

Parental and peer influence on adolescents account for a substantial portion of the variation in health behavior developing in late adolescence. Of high school students sampled, 50% describe the influence attempts of their mothers, fathers and peers as neutral on most health behavior. Smoking is the exception to the pattern with mothers and…

Health educators can play a very significant role in improving health status in the United States by fostering a belief in individuals that health behavior can and should be self-directed, and that people can understand more about health and thereby take more responsibility for their own health. (DS)

The author presents a strategy for changing health behavior by developing a sense of personal responsibility in the participant through a process of (1) personally defining the concept of health, (2) self-rating one's health status, and (3) deciding which aspects of poor health the subject is willing to change. (MB)

A study was designed to assess faculty health behaviors at the beginning of each of the three years of a Health Promotion/Disease Prevention grant for comparisons over time. This article reports the results of the first comparison between the two faculties. (CT)