Background: Growing health disparities have a negative impact on young people's educational achievement. Community schools that involve deep relationships with partners across multiple domains address these disparities by providing opportunities and services that promote healthy development of young people, and enable them to graduate from high…

Youth suicide is a serious public health issue in the United States. It is currently the third leading cause of death for youth aged 10 to 19. School-based prevention programs may be an effective method of educating youth and enhancing their help-seeking. Most school-based suicide prevention programs have not been rigorously evaluated for their…

Since former Surgeon General David Satcher first identified childhood obesity as a threat to the nation's health in 2001, health professionals have investigated potential solutions. Venues in which to address this problem have also been explored. The school setting was identified by the Institute of Medicine as a viable location in which to…

Background: An estimated 1 in 5 American children has a vision problem. Children living in poor urban environments have twice the normal rate of vision problems. Uncorrected vision problems can worsen over time and result in permanent vision loss. Early detection and treatment of vision problems is therefore essential in optimizing children's…

Surveyed Ohio safe and drug-free school coordinators regarding their perceptions of how to improve safe and drug-free school programs. Training topics considered most beneficial included effective techniques for enhancing youth success, building parent-school-community partnerships, and providing conflict resolution skills. Lack of time and school…

A statewide survey of Ohio 11th graders measured participation in substance-use prevention-programs and actual substance use. Over 40% of the students had never participated in prevention programs. Popular prevention programs included DARE and Just Say No Clubs. There were lower levels of drug involvement associated with participation in…

Reports a study of the effectiveness of a third grade sexual abuse prevention program. Students who did and who did not receive the intervention completed a pre- and postprogram questionnaire. Results indicated that those completing the intervention significantly increased their sexual abuse knowledge scores and their behavioral intention scores.…

Examined the status of health-education preparation for preservice elementary education majors in Ohio colleges, noting the types of required courses and the extent to which schools incorporated health and pedagogy-related content in their courses. Surveys of Ohio college faculty indicated that 40 of 50 institutions had a required health course.…