University education confronts students with stressful developmental challenges that can lead to mental health problems. Innovative programs must address an increasing prevalence of these problems but are impeded by the high costs involved. In this study, thirty-nine undergraduate students attended weekly one hour mindfulness meditation tutorials…

Background: Collection of valid and reliable surveillance data as a basis for school health promotion and education policy and practice for children and adolescence is of great importance. However, numerous methodological and practical problems arise in the planning and collection of such survey data that need to be resolved in order to ensure the…

This article outlines a project called "LifeLab," developed by researchers at the Education School, Faculty of Medicine and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Southampton (UK), to promote a science-oriented approach to health literacy among teenagers. The main purposes of "LifeLab" are: (1) to improve…

Purpose: The wide ranging physical and mental health benefits of physical activity during adolescence are well established and walking has been identified as one of only two forms of physical activity not to show a significant decrease in participation levels across the primary/secondary years. The aim of this paper is to explore the broader…

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious challenges of the 21st century and it is vital that evidence-based treatment approaches can be translated into practice to meet public health needs. Yet policy-makers cannot afford to wait for the results of lengthy trials before "probably efficacious" interventions are made available to the public, and…

The idea of having a "Compare" Forum focusing on the above title was first discussed with one of the Editors of "Compare" during a PhD defence in Oslo in 2011. The PhD dissertation itself was linked to a larger project in which researchers from the North (Norway) and the South (South Africa) had been collaborating in…

Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of…

Many states and communities are in chronic fiscal crisis. It is no surprise that beleaguered educators are ever more open to offers of corporate "partnerships" that might bring in additional money for their schools. Unfortunately, many school-business partnerships are little more than marketing arrangements that have few benefits for…

In both developed and developing countries, population aging has attained unprecedented levels. Public health strategies to deliver services in community-based settings are key to enhancing the utilization of preventive care and reducing costs for this segment of the population. Motivated by concerns of inadequate access to oral health care by…

Our objective was to assess how exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke occurs in Hungarian homes, particularly among non-smokers, and to examine the effectiveness of home smoking bans in eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke at home. In 2009, 2286 non-smokers and smokers aged 16-70 years, who were selected randomly from a nationally…

When patients need information, they may visit a doctor, ask a nurse, or look online. But these are not the only sources of information used by patients. This paper examines discussion threads in online renal support groups to describe how people living with kidney failure conceive of help, information and support. I use Actor Network Theory to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to underpin a scoping study commissioned by community leaders to assess the potential for creating a "health café" in the centre of Boston, in eastern England, UK, to facilitate healthier lifestyles. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed methods and framework analytic approach was adopted, using…

Environmental education (EE) continues to focus on enhancing people's ecological knowledge to encourage sustainable actions. This deficit approach presumes that once informed about environmental harms, people will work towards sustainable solutions for healthy societies. Yet research overwhelmingly demonstrates that knowledge of environmental…

The United Nations established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, with the target for achievement set at 2015. On the UN website a special section is devoted to the MDGs. In this article the website as it was presented in late 2013 is examined. Although the website was easy to negotiate, it was difficult to ascertain any…

Parents play an important role in the promotion of adolescent sexual health, but little is known about parents' attitudes and beliefs in immigrant families. We examine Hmong American parents' attitudes about adolescent sexual health using survey data from 202 parents of adolescents with attention to parental gender differences. Breaking from…