Sexual health education, including HIV prevention information, can help prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. National Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 2011 and 2013 were used to determine HIV education prevalence among 9,825 currently sexually active students in grades 9-12. Associations between HIV education and…

Being physically active is reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases. Mixed method study was conducted to analyze health status and explore supporting and inhibiting factors of physical activity among academic and non academic staff in higher education. A total of 83 respondents were met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The majority of…

Adolescents with overweight and obesity are at risk for future health problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and initial efficacy of a weight management intervention to help adolescents develop healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors and improve their anthropometrics. This study used a single-group repeated…

Background: The success of public health campaigns to engender healthy behavior depends on effective communication of desired messages that inspire action utilizing health information that must be successfully understood. Research, however, illustrates that health guidelines are differentially interpreted, with health literacy and proclivities…

Despite a growing mental health crisis in the United States, empirical indicators of what could make a depression help-seeking message effective and why are currently not available. Even worse, some depression help-seeking messages can activate negative beliefs among depressed individuals that may make help-seeking even less likely than before.…

A decade after the first health app became available, the field of digital health has produced a range of health behavior insights and an expanding product portfolio. Despite sustained interest and growth fueled by academic and industry interests, the impact of digital health on health behavior change and related outcomes has been limited. This…

Young African American and Latina women aged 15 to 24 are more likely to adopt short-acting forms of contraception over long-acting reversible contraception. Mobile applications and other forms of digital media may be useful for providing adolescents with information about sexual and reproductive health both inside and outside of the health care…

Background: Out-of-school time (OST) programs are an important setting for supporting student health and academic achievement. This study describes the prevalence and characteristics of school-based OST programs, which can inform efforts to promote healthy behaviors in this setting. Methods: A nationally representative sample of public elementary…

Background: There is a paucity of research describing the associations between mental health disorders, health behaviors, and attitudes and the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) among graduate students. Aims: To: (1) compare mental health disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety), health behaviors (eating habits, sleep, exercise), and…

In March 2020, the South African President Mr Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national lockdown due to the rising cases of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, some of the higher education institutions closed under lockdown level 5 and strategies had to be developed to adapt to the "new norm". Consequently, students and the living and…

Purpose: Prisons offer a public health opportunity to access a group with multiple and complex needs and return them to the community with improved health. However, prisons are not conducive to optimal health and there are few frameworks to guide efforts. This study aims to generate insights into health literacy across a young adult prison…

Background: Place-based efforts offer promise in reducing childhood obesity. Yet, lack of public demand and support may hinder implementation. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether the emphasis on place-based solutions, community-wide strategies, and multisector engagement in the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) initiative would shift…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterise parents' concerns for their children's health behaviour and perceptions of motivators and barriers to positive child health behaviour change, and to determine associations between motivators and barriers and parents' priorities for a school-based healthy lifestyle programme. Design:…

Background: Physical activity (PA) is linked to many health benefits. However, many children and adults do not meet PA recommendations. Specifically, Mexican-heritage (MH) families are less physically active and at greater risk for obesity and related co-morbidities than the general population. Culturally-tailored programs are needed to support MH…

Montana is proud to have completed over three decades of participation in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). These results are valuable to educators, school boards, and communities, including parents and students, in understanding the health risks of Montana students, enabling districts to design local health and physical education curriculum…