In this article we present a new composite index of child health, applied to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Africa, one of the areas of the planet most castigated by poverty. Our index has been constructed attending to the variables defined in the Goals of the Millennium Declaration. For this purpose we will use the P2 distance method for…

Child wellness needs to be understood holistically so that children and youth from high-poverty environments can succeed in schooling and life. Teachers who foster advocacy in themselves are well equipped to teach students to take ownership of their own well-being. Such advocacy can enrich the classroom curriculum and mitigate the negative effects…

Young children's eating behaviors have a direct link to their future health and attitudes regarding food. Similarly, positive nutrition during the toddler years leads to increased brain development and thus children are generally healthier (Weaver, More, & Harris, 2008). This makes eating behaviors extremely important. During the toddler years…

Obesity rates among preschool-aged children have doubled in the past 10 years, and 60% of these children spend the majority of their day in childcare facilities. Few studies have examined the quality of nutrition and physical activity practices in childcare centers as compared to family childcare homes. The purpose of this study is to determine if…

Comprehensive childhood obesity prevention (COP) strategies should include increasing school nurse involvement. This study was conducted to determine the influence of key school nurse perceptions (self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) on participation in COP practices at the individual child and school level. Florida…

Educational scholars agree that the relationship between curriculum development and practice is mitigated by complex political and cultural agendas (Goodson 1984; Vertinsky 2007). As a performing art form and physical activity, dance does not easily fit within the context of a typical school subject and is a site for ontological and…

In 2010, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), provided states with the opportunity to apply for funding to build and expand evidence-based home visiting programs in their states and to incorporate community collaboration components, referred to as early childhood comprehensive systems (ECCS). For Texas, this…

Public health insurance programs comprise a large share of federal and state government expenditure, and these programs are due to be expanded as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Despite a large literature on the effects of these programs on health care utilization and health outcomes, little prior work has examined the long-term effects of…

This booklet has been developed in hopes that it may aid in keeping communication open and focused between families and schools. Building communication between parents and the school staff through letters offers a way of keeping records of ideas, concerns, and suggestions. This booklet provides general guidelines to writing letters as well as…

Though estimates vary, as many as 2 million to 3.7 million U.S. children under age 18 may have a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender parent, and about 200,000 are being raised by same-sex couples. Much of the past decade's legal and political debate over allowing same-sex couples to marry has centered on these couples' suitability as parents,…

The study aims to explore the effectiveness of the approach of communication between parents and teachers to change the behavior of young children. Surely, it prioritizes on the social interaction between teachers and parents of the students. The method used in this study is field research that is qualitative, while the analysis of the data used…

The overarching purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of maternal and infant/child health indices that have an established link to childhood disability (CHD) and their association with socio-economic status (SES) in Kenya. Data were drawn from the 2008/2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive and weighted Pearson's…

Purpose: Health promotion can fall into a victim blaming approach and put social pressure on particular students who could be marginalized due to their personal, economical, cultural, social or ethnic characteristics, for example, students who are obese, drug users or HIV carriers. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss ways in which…

Background: Children with incontinence have more absenteeism, poorer academic performance, and potential social difficulties during the school years. These children and their parents are at risk for illness-related anxiety. Whereas educational plans are designed to remediate educational, medical, and social-emotional barriers at school, little…

Mental health disorders are prevalent among children and are associated with deleterious outcomes. Yet many children experiencing mental health distress remain unidentified and do not receive treatment. Because of their frequent contact with children, schools have been identified as primary actors in identifying children with mental health…