Homeless youth are a population at a high risk for suicidal behavior. A previous exploratory study emphasized the importance of feeling trapped or helpless, which appeared to mediate the impact of other risk variables. Confirmatory work was needed to test this inductively derived model. Two hundred eight homeless youths completed surveys on the…

This analysis is about the role of poverty in school reform. Data from a number of sources are used to make five points. First, that poverty in the United States is greater and of longer duration than in other rich nations. Second, that poverty, particularly among urban minorities, is associated with academic performance that is well below…

Background: Education fundamentally shapes an individual's life chances and social status. Duration and level of education are associated with people's incomes, socio-economic status, living standard, lifestyle and the respect and esteem they enjoy. Failure to fulfil educational potential may have long-term consequences for later occupational and…

The relationship between poor health and cognitive impairment is not fully understood yet. People with Down syndrome are prone to a number of health problems, including congenital heart defect, visual impairment, hearing loss, autoimmune diseases, epilepsy, early-onset Alzheimer's disease and intellectual disability. Our aim was to assess the…

The Comprehensive Services Program of Palm Beach County, Florida, was an ambitious and innovative effort to improve the school readiness of low-income children in Palm Beach County by identifying needs early and providing early intervention services to support physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development. Services were delivered to…

Over the past 30 years, the rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2 to 5 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, and it has more than tripled for children 6 to 11 years of age (Institute of Medicine, 2005). At present, approximately 9 million children over 6 years are considered obese (Institute of…

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine health problems of children (4-12 years old at the time of the disaster) and adolescents (13-18 years old at the time of the disaster) before and after exposure to a fireworks disaster in the Netherlands (May 2000), to compare these health problems with a control group, and to identify risk factors…

This guidebook addresses retirement planning for midlife women. Section 1 presents the woman an opportunity to assess herself today in terms of the roles she plays in various aspects of her life and in her relationships with others. It asks her to consider some of her plans, dreams, and things she would like to do in an ideal retirement situation.…

This guide describes publications and other resources suitable for use in a nutrition-related health education program for migrant farmworkers and their families. Materials were selected to serve farmworker populations with low literacy levels or limited knowledge of English. Included are pamphlets, manuals, videos, fact sheets, and booklets…

Most college students are drinkers, but most of these drinkers are not problem drunks or alcoholics. College students are in fact an ideal population, at an opportune stage of development, to be taught healthy drinking practices. One major obstacle to teaching "alcohol wellness" is the considerable number of health educators who attempt to teach…

This booklet introduces the concept of health promotion and disease prevention, outlines the health risks that are found in daily life, and shows how the risk of disease and disability can be reduced with minor changes in life style. Information is given on the number and causes of yearly deaths and the measures that have been taken by the…

Young men are more likely than young women to engage in behaviors that threaten their health, including alcohol and drug use, risky driving, and becoming injured by others. The explanation of these sex differences is the focus of this paper. Findings from nationwide samples of high school seniors are consistent with a model that posits personal…

The nine major overview and position papers contained in the monograph were originally presented at a conference held for the purpose of reviewing, from the Native American perspective, the National Institute of Medicine's comprehensive volume, "Health and Behavior: Frontiers of Research in the Biobehavioral Sciences." The papers, each…

The Type A disease association may be obscured by the failure of epidemiological studies to take into account the person by situation nature of the Type A construct. Past research suggests that it is not coping with demand that is stressful for Type As, but rather the perception that the job or life event is less than completely controllable that…

Two curriculum kits developed by the American Cancer Society, "An Early Start to Good Health" (K-3) and "Health Network" (4-6), were evaluated. Subjects of the study were 26 elementary school teachers and their students. Volume 1 of this report offers an overview of the evaluation findings on both kits and two outside…