Overweight has reached alarming proportions among America's youth. Although the cause of the rise in overweight rates in children and adolescents is certainly the result of the interaction of a variety of factors, the presence of vending machines in schools is one issue that has recently come to the forefront. Many states have passed or proposed…

The author discusses the case of Rose Freistater, a teacher at James Monroe High School. Freistater's application for her teaching license was rejected by the New York City Board of Examiners due to overweight. Although a number of overweight and underweight teachers were rejected by the Board of Education in the ten years that the standards had…

Parenting styles influence a child's risk for obesity. The goals of this study are to evaluate the influence of (i) parenting style on children's health behaviors (physical activity and dietary intake), (ii) children's sociodemographic characteristics on parenting style and on children's health behaviors and (iii) parents' sociodemographic…

A large national study of schoolchildren aged 6-18 years was conducted to assess nutritional and socio-cognitive factors associated with body mass index (BMI). A questionnaire was used to assess nutritional quality of breakfast, importance of physical activity and food variety score, among 4441 students from randomly selected schools in all states…

In 2004, the Women's Sports Foundation published the first edition of "Her Life Depends On It" (Don Sabo, Kathleen E. Miller, Merrill J. Melnick, and Leslie Heywood). At that time, it was clear that evidence-based research confirmed that regular physical activity and sport provides the critical foundation, in no small part, that allows girls and…

The Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI) is a University of Pennsylvania/West Philadelphia schools academically-based community service program that integrates academics, research, and service through service-learning and participatory action research. UNI is based academically within Penn's Department of Anthropology and administratively within the…

Every two years the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) administers the DoDEA Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) to all parents with children attending DoDEA schools and all 4th-12th grade students enrolled in a DoDEA school. Parents were asked to complete one survey for each school in which they had a child enrolled. The purpose of…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Customer Satisfaction Survey is a biennial survey administered by DoDEA to parents and students to monitor DoDEA's success in meeting students' needs. The survey is administered every other year to sponsors with children in pre-kindergarten-12th grade and to students in grades 4-12. For the…

Schools are frequently seen as the solution to social problems, and recent public health issues such as the near epidemic rates of obesity and diabetes are some of the newest pressures facing schools. This investigation is an exploration of physical education teachers' reactions to one school district's attempts to mandate a public health driven…

The study identifies some of the greatest disparities for boys and men of color relative to their white counterparts across specific socioeconomic, health, safety, and school readiness indicators in California and provides information about different strategies for reducing the disparities--including effective programs, practices, and…

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Customer Satisfaction Survey is a biennial survey administered by DoDEA to parents and students to monitor DoDEA's success in meeting students' needs. The survey is administered every other year to sponsors with children in pre-kindergarten--12th grade and to students in grades 4-12. For the…

The public health burden of obesity, overweight, and physical inactivity suggests schools be actively involved in prevention and treatment. Schools were challenged to take action by the Surgeon General in 2001. Few resources have been allocated to support the schools and in the presence of budget and high stakes testing pressure, resources are…