Cigarette smoking is a behavior with profound biomedical and psychosocial consequences across the life span. Although it is advertised in terms of youth, beauty, sexual appeal, success and independence, smoking is intimately linked with addiction, disease and death. Smoking has been shown to be a leading contributer to several kinds of cancer,…

In order to test the usefulnes of the Health Belief Model (a model designed to measure health practices, attitudes, and knowledge), a survey of Potter County, Pennsylvania was conducted, and 283 responses from adult females without chronic illnesses were analyzed. The dependent variables employed were regulating diet and getting regular exercise.…

Understanding the health literacy of America's adults is important because so many aspects of finding health care and health information, and maintaining health, depend on understanding written information. Many reports have suggested that low health literacy is associated with poor communication between patients and health care providers and with…

This report examines the prevalence and severity of health problems that hinder welfare recipients' ability to get and hold jobs, using data from interviews with women who in May 1995 received welfare and lived in four poor, urban areas. The study compared the health of women who had left welfare and were working, who combined welfare and work,…

As part of its 1996 welfare reform bill, the U.S. Congress enacted a $50 million per year program to fund abstinence education. The welfare reform law addresses the problem of births to single adolescents by enforcing child support payments, giving states financial incentives to reduce nonmarital births, and creating the abstinence education…

Researchers have been slow to acknowledge the salient role communication can play in motivating people to adopt more healthy lifestyles. Because persuasive messages increase awareness and can increase health promoting behaviors, it is important to determine the most effective health promoting messages in various health contexts. Thus, the primary…

Presents 10 areas where innovation is needed for comprehensive school health education to succeed at the secondary school level; contrasts these areas with characteristics of the traditional health education program. A multidisciplinary approach to alcohol and other drug prevention is outlined in a figure. (SM)

The Claxton Elementary School Health Program was developed to improve school/community health. Using the Community Oriented Primary Care process, a health advisory board was organized and a comprehensive needs assessment was implemented. Teachers, parents, students, and professionals agreed on perceived health problems. The board selected two…

The article examines why women and young girls are predisposed to tobacco use, what gender-based variables are at play, what external variables facilitate the initiation of tobacco use, why women continue to smoke, and what intervention strategies can address females and at-risk subgroups. (SM)

Describes Nebraska's experience with a successful prevention program to form and maintain local drug-free youth groups. Over 4,500 youths were involved at a 6-year evaluation. Results showed that the programs attracted a significant number of high-risk youths. Nearly all reported being alcohol and tobacco free in the previous month. (SM)

Associations between exercise and risky behaviors were examined. Runners, walkers, and tennis (RWT) players were less likely to be obese or have risky behaviors than participants in team and other sports, possibly because some team and exercise behaviors are part of riskier lifestyles, whereas RWT are integral to healthy lifestyles. (SM)

This study examined sexual behavior, perceived risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and pathology of 66 males attending a college health center's sexually transmitted disease clinic. Data from patients' charts indicated a group of men who, despite high-risk behaviors, perceived their risk of contracting HIV as being extremely low. (SM)

Examined middle school students' sexual-risk behavior, using data from the Healthy for Life project which was designed to positively affect students' health behaviors. Longitudinal data from self-report surveys of students in control, intervention, and intensive intervention programs indicated that the program was ineffective in reducing the rate…

Elementary school is the perfect place to teach and reinforce the lifelong skill of effective handwashing for students and adults. One collaboration between an elementary school and a nursing education program to augment school health services without taxing the school budget is described. Nursing students spent 260 professional nursing service…

Examined middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding bicycle helmet use. Surveys indicated that most rode bicycles but did not use helmets, despite understanding their protective capabilities, because of poor peer support and helmet design. There was a positive relationship between helmet ownership and use. Most…