Physical education is one of the most viable intervention programs to reach overweight and obese children. Since physical activity habits developed early in life are more likely to persist into adulthood, it is important for K-12 physical educators to teach the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will motivate students to become more active. Two…

The Idaho Consortium for Safe Schools Healthy Students consists of three school districts in rural North Central Idaho and the Nez Perce Tribe's Students for Success Program. Universal prevention programs implemented in the elementary schools include Second Step and the middle schools implemented the Life Skills program. Each of the three…

Despite the fact that children in foster care are, perhaps, the most vulnerable children, healthcare for them has been lacking woefully for many years. A growing body of research has documented the need for such care as well as the failure of child welfare agencies to make major improvements in providing healthcare to foster children. Nonetheless,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to demonstrate the contribution of whole school approaches embodied by the health-promoting school approach, to the promotion of school connectedness, defined as the cohesiveness between diverse groups in the school community, including students, families, school staff and the wider…

Narrative is the basic mode of human interaction and a fundamental way of acquiring knowledge. In the rapidly growing field of health communication, narrative approaches are emerging as a promising set of tools for motivating and supporting health-behavior change. This article defines narrative communication and describes the rationale for using…

Objective: Community-based health promotion intervention for improving unhygienic disposal of children's faeces was conducted in a rural area of Nigeria. Setting: The study was conducted in Ife South Local Government area of Osun State, Nigeria. Design: The study was conducted in 10 randomly selected rural villages: five control and five active.…

Objective: To document young people's and teachers' responses to "Icebreaker", a Theatre in Education (TIE) performance exploring themes of sexual health and relationships, in relation to "Healthy Arts"' objectives. Design: Data reported here were part of a wider evaluation of a government funded scheme. Setting: Data was…

This article looks at the importance of student-generated analogies, metaphors, and similes as an entry point into their understandings of HIV/AIDS. In addition, it argues that analogies, metaphors, and similes are good tools for eliciting students' prior understandings of HIV/AIDS, especially matters relating to sexuality that are often…

Although depression is strongly associated with suicide attempts and suicide deaths, most depressed youth do not make an attempt, indicating the need to identify additional risk factors. We examined suicide attempts among 451 depressed primary care patients, 13 to 21 years of age. In bivariate analyses, youth classified as suicide attempters…

In this article, we make the case that HIV/AIDS clubs in Ugandan schools provide valuable information to students who may not have easy access to health services. As one club motto suggests, the clubs "talk what others think you can't talk". The innovative peer education methods, which include drama, popular culture and community…

"New Jersey Kids Count 2011" again documents both advances and setbacks in key areas that affect child well-being--poverty, health, child protection, education, including early learning, and adolescent well-being. To better gauge New Jersey's progress in essential areas, a "New Jersey Kids Count Report Card" that identifies…

The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers Project sought to determine the health education needs of this indigent population in Ohio using the help of lay outreach workers. A bilingual needs assessment survey was developed containing questions on demographics, place of permanent residence, points of travel after working in Ohio, and type of work and…

This paper argues that traditional African dance can develop fitness and health particularly for those interested in both health and African culture. A discussion of fitness concludes that this quality enables the body to perform physical activities with greater efficiency and that all the qualities commonly found in notions of fitness are found…

Health care reform represents a major step toward achieving the goal of improved preventive and primary care services for all Americans, including children and adolescents. Adolescence is a unique developmental age district from both childhood and adulthood with special vulnerabilities, health concerns, and barriers to accessing health care. It is…

Data suggest that acquaintance and date rape may account for 50-70 percent of all reported rapes in the United States. Recent findings also indicate that one in four college women have been raped or a victim of attempted rape. As most rape victims are between 15 and 24 years of age, high school-based education programs must be provided if society…