Objective: To assess the impact of a parenting intervention, "Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación" (FPNG), intended to support children, on parents heavy drinking. We hypothesized that parent participants of FPNG would reduce their heavy drinking at 1-year follow-up. Methods: Parents (N = 281) of middle school children from a large,…

Background: From 1990 to 2050, the population aged 60 years and older will rise from 9% to 21%. Healthy aging initiatives are vital to promote individual, community, and global well-being during this transformation. Accurate health measurement tools are needed to successfully guide strategies and plot progress. The validated multi-dimensional…

Many states and sports leagues are instituting concussion policies aimed at reducing risk of morbidity and mortality; many include mandates about the provision of concussion education to youth athletes. However, there is limited evidence if educational materials provided under these typically vague mandates are in fact effective in changing…

Fidelity in implementing an intervention is critical to accurately determine and interpret the effects of an intervention. It is important to monitor the manner in which the behavioral intervention is implemented (e.g. adaptations, delivery as intended and dose). Few interventions are implemented with 100% fidelity. In this study, high school…

Smoking and sexual risk behaviors in urban adolescent females are prevalent and problematic. Family planning clinics reach those who are at most risk. This randomized effectiveness trial evaluated a transtheoretical model (TTM)-tailored intervention to increase condom use and decrease smoking. At baseline, a total of 828 14- to 17-year-old females…

Purpose: The Australian Dietary Guidelines support good health and disease prevention. Children with healthy eating habits established early in life have been shown to continue these habits into adulthood compared with those children who have poor eating habits in their younger years. The nutritional intake of many Australian children is not in…

The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (REHYA) (H.R. 1706, S. 2765) was reintroduced by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) in March 2015 and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) in April 2016. REHYA would ensure that federal funding is allocated to comprehensive sexual health education programs that provide young people with the skills and information they…

Physical inactivity is a growing problem among children, particularly school-aged youth. Research suggests children are especially prone to inactivity in the summer months when access to structured school-time and extra-curricular activities is reduced. Community programs like residential summer camps offer an excellent environment for engaging…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify academic preparation and subject-area certifications of K-12 public school staff teaching at least one health education class during 2011-2012 academic year. In general, teachers who are well qualified to teach a subject area are more likely to positively affect student achievement. Methods: Data…

Problem: Stress experience by millennial college students can be crippling. While stress is a universal and unavoidable phenomenon for college students, the variance in ability to handle stress can be attributed to stress tolerance (Welle & Graf, 2011). Research is needed to identify effective tools that increase college students' ability to…

Background: Peer mentoring can be a powerful complement to health instruction. Mentoring has been used to change health behaviors and promote sustainable lifestyle patterns in adults and, more recently, among adolescents. Purpose: This article reviews the use of peer mentoring to promote health practices and describes how this approach can be used…

The present study addresses critical gaps in the literature by examining residential transitions among 303 adults with intellectual disability (ID) over 10 years (Part 1) and 75 adults with Down syndrome over 20 years (Part 2). All adults lived at home at the start of the study, but many moved to a variety of settings. Several characteristics of…

Low maternal healthcare service utilization contributes to poor maternal and new born health outcomes in rural Zambia. The purpose of this study was to identify important factors influencing women's intention to use these services in Kalomo, Zambia. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1007 women of reproductive…

Objective: This study investigated how young urban students conceptualize health and fitness and tried to identify their sources of information about health-related issues. The findings are intended to help make suggestions for policy makers to design and develop effective health-education strategies. Methods: Focus group discussions (FGDs) of 20…

The use of faith-based organizations as sites to deliver diet and physical activity interventions is increasing. Methods to assess the messaging environment within churches are limited. Our research aimed to develop and test an objective assessment methodology to characterize health messages, particularly those related to diet and physical…