Suggests that exercise should be the first-line therapy for preventing and treating many common diseases; however, physicians need more training in how best to use exercise therapy. The paper explains the power of exercise and discusses how to motivate individuals to start safe, enjoyable, and life-saving exercise routines. (SM)

Data gathered during a 20-year longitudinal study of New Zealand women were used to describe the extent and timing of pregnancies within the cohort up to age 20; and to examine the extent to which the risk of early pregnancy was related to a range of social background, family, individual, and peer relationship factors measured over the course of…

Surveyed Canadian facilities of education with training in elementary, secondary, and physical and health education to determine the extent to which their students received sexual health training. On average, 15.5 percent of the programs provided compulsory training in sexual health education, 26.2 percent had related optional courses, and 39.3…

Investigated how European, national, and local goals of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS) have been realized in Finnish schools. Teacher surveys highlighted the substantial development related to health promotion in Finnish ENHPS schools. Safe school environments were emphasized. Networking with other schools was encouraged…

Examined associations between health behaviors and lifetime sexual partners. Data from the 1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey indicated that having two or more lifetime partners related to infrequent seatbelt use, driving after drinking, fighting, considering suicide, and using certain substances. Significant sex interactions…

HIV-positive injection drug users (IDUs) (N = 161) were recruited to complete a qualitative interview and a quantitative survey about sexual behavior and transmission risk. We identified two contexts in which exposure encounters occurred most commonly for HIV-positive IDUs: in intimate serodiscordant relationships and in the drug/sex economy.…

Prevention case management (PCM) for HIV-infected persons is an HIV risk reduction intervention designed to assist clients who are aware of their HIV infection and who continue to engage in risk transmission behaviors. PCM combines individual risk reduction counseling with case management to address the psychosocial factors affecting HIV…

The majority of physical activity initiatives have been directed toward promoting cardiorespiratory fitness and general health. Far less attention has been devoted to encouraging or understanding muscular fitness-promoting behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine if constructs from the Transtheoretical Model, a contemporary behavior…

Chicago's Puerto Rican community in West Town had a unique reaction to the spread of AIDS within its limits. They created their own institutions and tackled the epidemic themselves. In its infancy, Vida/SIDA, which translates as Life/AIDS, was solely an alternative health clinic for people with AIDS. Free of charge, it provided services such as…

The goal of audience segmentation is to identify population subgroups that are homogeneous with respect to certain variables associated with a given outcome or behavior. When such groups are identified and understood, targeted intervention strategies can be developed to address their unique characteristics and needs. This study compares the…

Our objective was to examine factors associated with compliance and support for a smoke-free campus before and after a 1995 campus-wide smoking ban for everyone, including teachers and visitors, in California. Adolescent (12-17 years) data from the 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2002 (N approximately 6000 each year) California Tobacco Surveys…

Obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases are widespread in American Indian communities. Inadequate access to healthy food on many reservations has led to a high-fat, high-sugar diet. The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of the process evaluation of a food store-based program to improve diet on two American Indian…

In this prospective longitudinal study, the authors investigated the association between lifetime tobacco use and subsequent health problems by age 30. The authors interviewed a community group of 749 participants from upstate New York at mean ages of 14, 16, 22, and 27 years. Daily tobacco use during any of the time periods, as well as the number…

Objective: This study examines the unique contribution of five types of maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect) to adult health behaviors as well as the additive impact of exposure to different types of childhood maltreatment. Method: Two hundred and twenty-one women recruited from a VA…

Concerning the role of parental smoking on development of adolescent smoking, most studies have exclusively focused on the direct effects of parents' smoking on youths' smoking. However, parental smoking may also play an indirect role by affecting youths' susceptibility to peer influences and by affecting friendship selection. Data were from a…