Johnson C. Smith University, one of the nation's oldest historically Black colleges and universities, has a peer education program known as Students with a Realistic Mission (SWARM). SWARM's primary focus is on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted disease prevention, alcohol education, and other drug awareness. During the spring 2000 semester, we…

Objective: To test the feasibility and effectiveness of dietary change interventions in UK school-based settings. This overview draws out the main lessons that were learnt from these studies, for both practitioners and researchers. Design: A review and analysis of the final reports from five studies commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.…

Reforms that have been undertaken in the mental health system have significant implications for psychologists working in and with schools. This article introduces the special series in "School Psychology Review" on "Emerging models for promoting children's mental health: Linking systems for prevention and intervention." This article describes…

Objectives: To provide recommendations that will build a better foundation for research on youth smoking cessation. Methods: The Youth Tobacco Collaborative Cessation panel evaluated youth tobacco cessation literature and convened meetings to reach consensus. Results: Methodological issues include design, recruitment and retention, follow-up,…

This paper addresses the concept of student participation in learning processes within the health promoting schools approach. A model is used as a broad analytical framework to discuss selected aspects of the evaluation data on the Internet-based collaborative project titled "Virtual Classroom--ICT, Learning and Changes", recently…

As more opportunities for enrolling in online courses and programs become available, ensuring the quality of such educational experiences will continue to increase in importance. One factor determining quality concerns the student support services available to distance learners. Unfortunately, these services are often underdeveloped or overlooked,…

Smoking in pregnancy is a serious health risk to mother and baby that is associated with premature birth, low birth weight and respiratory disorders. Recently it has become apparent that smoking in pregnancy can have long-term consequences for the child, including learning difficulties, elevated risk of diabetes, obesity and asthma. Over the past…

Background: Although physicians are in a unique position to prevent life-threatening outcomes by counseling patients to stop smoking, many of them miss the opportunity to intervene in their patients' use of tobacco. Nicotine Dependence Across the Lifespan was developed as a continuing medical education (CME) program to teach and encourage…

This study is a systematic review of the Alameda County study findings and their importance in establishing a link between lifestyle and health outcomes. A systematic review of literature was performed and data indicating important links between lifestyle and health were synthesized. Although initial studies focused on the associations between…

The Child Welfare League of America is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. By publishing a diverse range of views on a wide array of topics, "Children's…

The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) is a national survey periodically conducted to assess school health policies and programs at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. This brief reports study results in the area of violence prevention, covering the following topics: (1) Health Education; (2) Health Services and…

An Internet tool for monitoring, personalized feedback and referral was developed to support routine adolescent preventive care and was compared with usual practice using paper and pencil (P&P). A total of 1071 students (average age 15 years) from seven secondary schools were randomly assigned to the Internet or P&P group. The Internet group…

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a middle school epidemiology curriculum called Detectives in the Classroom. The curriculum presents epidemiology as the science of public health, using health-related issues that capture the interest of young students and help prepare them to make evidence-based health-related decisions.…

This article presents the results of a survey by the School Nutrition Association (SNA) on the year-long adoption of wellness policies of 15,000 local schools nationwide. Released September 5, SNA's "From Cupcakes to Carrots: Local Wellness Policies One Year Later" was compiled from a survey of 976 school nutrition directors conducted in May 2007.…

Public health, once the gem of American social programs, has turned to dross. During the 20th century, the public-health sector wiped smallpox and polio off the U.S. map; virtually eliminated rickets, rubella, and goiter; stopped epidemic typhoid and yellow fever; and brought tuberculosis--once the leading cause of death in U.S. cities--under…