Examined middle school students' sexual-risk behavior, using data from the Healthy for Life project which was designed to positively affect students' health behaviors. Longitudinal data from self-report surveys of students in control, intervention, and intensive intervention programs indicated that the program was ineffective in reducing the rate…

Elementary school is the perfect place to teach and reinforce the lifelong skill of effective handwashing for students and adults. One collaboration between an elementary school and a nursing education program to augment school health services without taxing the school budget is described. Nursing students spent 260 professional nursing service…

Examined middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding bicycle helmet use. Surveys indicated that most rode bicycles but did not use helmets, despite understanding their protective capabilities, because of poor peer support and helmet design. There was a positive relationship between helmet ownership and use. Most…

Surveyed Japanese high school students' health risk behavior patterns, examining clustering and accumulation of health risk behaviors. Physical inactivity and alcohol use were the most common risk behaviors. Prevalence rates for most risk behaviors varied by demographic variables. Smoking, drinking, and sexual intercourse clustered among both…

Describes a community-based safety belt promotional program held at 10 public high schools. Safety belt assemblies, which created vivid crash images, were conducted using police officers, ambulance personnel, people with paraplegia, and athletes. Incentives were awarded to buckled students over 10 weeks. The program resulted in increased safety…

This study examined whether differences in social-cognitive determinants of activity behavior could account for gender differences in physical activity. Fifth graders (n=365) provided information on afterschool physical activity and determinants of activity behavior. Only differences in self-efficacy and participation in community sports accounted…

A study assessed pharmacy students' perceptions about the importance of learning about health beliefs and behaviors of ethnic minority groups, views on the mechanisms by which such cultural information should be conveyed, and differences in perceptions related to student demography. Students believed this information was important but did not make…

Besides challenges in health and physical well-being, today's children face challenges based in behavior and lifestyle choices, which do not offer well-defined solutions. The paper describes coordinated school health programs; explains the importance of school, community, and family involvement in health; presents the U.S. Department of…

Examined age, gender, ethnicity, self-esteem, physical activity, parental smoking, and socioeconomic status as predictors of smokeless tobacco use among middle-school students. Student surveys indicated that males, Hispanics, and older students were more likely to be current smokeless-tobacco users. Other influential factors were low self-esteem…

Addresses the health of young children and how to safely and effectively care for children with diarrhea in the home and in early child care settings. Discusses specific intervention and program activities, including specially designed materials for mixing homemade oral rehydration usage. (Author/SD)

Introduction: Research shows that physicians who model prevention are more likely to encourage preventive behaviors in their patients. Therefore, understanding the health of medical students ought to provide insight into the development of health promotion programs that influence the way these future physicians practice medicine. A…

Overweight children would not be the first thing a visitor to Grafton, West Virginia, would think of when seeing the small farms that cling to steep hillsides and cultivate the bottomland along the Tygart River as one drives into town. Like most of the state, the landscape around this village nods to pastoral enterprise, suggesting a place where…

Community-based research has evolved in the field of HIV/AIDS health promotion as a distinct expression of participatory action research in adult education. The authors of this chapter reflect on more than a decade of local knowledge construction to organize and improve the practice of HIV/AIDS health promotion in a variety of contexts.

The health practices of school nurses affect our role as advocates and educators to promote the health of youth. This study describes the health practices of a convenience sample of 388 school nurses who attended the business meeting at an annual school nurse conference. A self-administered, 40-item questionnaire identified health practices of…

An HIV knowledge survey and qualitative interview were administered to 20 case managers in community-based programs for troubled youth to assess HIV knowledge and their perception of client HIV risk behaviors. Participants had good HIV knowledge. Case managers perceived client youth to be at high risk for HIV infection due to unsafe sexual…