Minnesota Heart Health Program involved a project to reduce cardiovascular disease via school-based physical activity and health promotion. Researchers took seven annual waves of measurements from sixth graders in intervention and control communities. Results indicate school behavioral education together with community strategies can produce…

Describes the development of a measure of self-perceived abilities to implement various health promoting behaviors, reporting on a study of the psychometric properties of the measure in three samples. Results suggest the measure demonstrates adequate reliability and demonstrates predicted relationships with other health measures. (SM)

Analyzed the health-compromising behaviors of German youth using responses of 2,330 seventh, eighth, and ninth graders from the German Youth Study. Smoking and drinking are not seen by these students as health-threatening behaviors, but as socially appealing behaviors. Discusses implications for health education. (SLD)

Describes an empirical qualitative analysis of some of the traditional practices and beliefs with respect to health regimens and marine-related activities that operate in the daily lives of people in a village in Trinidad and Tobago. Contains 28 references. (DDR)

Examined the effect of a school-based asthma management program, which featured brief class sessions, for improving the knowledge and self-care of third graders with asthma and increasing parents' awareness. Pre- and postintervention parent and student surveys indicated that brief class sessions were feasible, and children demonstrated increased…

Examined whether the behavioral effects of a theory-based sexuality education curriculum could be duplicated for Arkansas adolescents. Pretesting and posttesting of intervention and control students indicated that intervention students significantly delayed initiating sexual intercourse, were more likely to protect themselves from sexually…

Examined HIV transmission behaviors and health practices among HIV-infected youths over 15 months following participation in a preventive intervention that emphasized coping with HIV and reducing risky behaviors. The intervention resulted in increases in social support coping and reductions in risky sexual and lifestyle behaviors specifically…

A comprehensive school-based prevention program based on an ecological model is recommended. Important components include staff training; classroom interventions; integration of relevant material into the existing curriculum; individual counseling and small group work with high-risk students; referral systems; opportunities for healthy eating;…

Junior high school students (n=1,510) completed the Health Behaviors Questionnaire in order to determine healthy and unhealthy behaviors and emotions which might identify at-risk students. Results indicate that all of the independent demographic and health-related variables used in this study were important predictors of at-risk status. Discusses…

A survey of third graders' (n=677) health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors indicated that white children had significantly higher knowledge than black children, though attitudes were similar. Females had more positive attitudes than males, but knowledge was similar. There was a significant interaction of sex and race on the health behavior…

Investigated health behaviors practiced by 10th graders in Bogota, Colombia. Data from a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that there was a high use of gateway substances (tobacco and alcohol) among respondents, but lower usage, when compared to U.S. students, of other mind-altering substances such as marijuana,…

This preliminary study evaluated effectiveness of a tobacco prevention program on knowledge, attitude, intention, and behavior of tobacco use among fourth-grade students. Results suggest that the program was effective and showed that students in the education group had greater improvement in knowledge than the comparison group. Both students and…

High school students (N=1,515) in Massachusetts were surveyed about whether participation in athletics promoted a healthier lifestyle and decreased use of recreational drugs. Participation in athletics did promote a healthier lifestyle and athletes were significantly less likely to use cocaine, psychedelic drugs, or smoke cigarettes. However, work…

Surveys on the collaborative experiences of colleges, state-level organizations, and school districts related to comprehensive school health programs (CHSP) in 12 states found four collaborative outcomes (training, consultation, research, and networking) and five dimensions of collaboration (interpersonal and organizational interactions, level of…

This 1943 paper describes findings from the Massachusetts High School Study regarding physical status and the evaluation of students' health behavior, interests, knowledge, and attitudes. Results found that it was impossible to determine the health status of Massachusetts high school students from the medical data recorded in the schools. There…