As the number of children affected by obesity increases in the United States, it is necessary to intervene with preventative and intervention techniques that will enact change. Since children spend a significant portion of their time in school, it is of particular interest to target strategies during the school day. Given recommendations for the…

Empirical support for the association between childhood overweight and low self-esteem is equivocal. The present study investigated how weight, ethnicity, body esteem, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes/behaviors contribute to global and dimensional self-esteem in a non-clinical sample of Hispanic- and Anglo-American grade 3-6…

Limited data are available on the contributory and compensatory relationships between physical education and physical activity in children. Four hundred eighty-five (280 girls) children in first through sixth grades wore sealed pedometers during waking hours, including normally scheduled physical education lessons. The least, moderately, and most…

The need for successful nutrition interventions is critical as the prevalence of childhood obesity increases. Thus, this pilot project examines the effect of a nutrition education program, "Color My Pyramid", on children's nutrition knowledge, self-care practices, activity levels, and nutrition status. Using a pretest-posttest,…

Fun & Fit is a program designed to create positive physical activity experiences and to promote healthy lifestyle choices among overweight children from low-income African American and Hispanic American families. The program is a collaborative project between Texas Tech University and the Lubbock Independent School District funded through a…

Background: Despite the growing number of school-based interventions designed to reduce childhood obesity or otherwise promote health, no models or materials were found for Jewish schools. The current study describes an effort within a Jewish school system in Chicago to create, implement, and evaluate a school-based intervention tailored to the…

Context: The increasing prevalence of overweight in youth has been well chronicled, but less is known about the unique patterns and risks that may exist in rural and urban environments. A better understanding of possible rural-urban differences in physical activity profiles may facilitate the development of more targeted physical activity…

Every day the media bombards the nation with concern over childhood obesity. More American children than ever before are developing health problems related to their eating habits and lack of exercise. The classroom is the perfect place to deal with this national crisis by speaking directly to the children. If children could become more aware of…

Background: Research suggests significant health differences between rural dwelling youth and their urban counterparts with relation to cardiovascular risk factors. This study was conducted to (1) determine relationships between physical activity and markers of metabolic syndrome, and (2) to explore factors relating to physical activity in a…

Objective: To compare environmental factors that influence body mass index for age (BMI-for-age) between a sample of American and Czech school-aged children. Design: Pilot study. A parent questionnaire and school visits were used to collect data from parents and children. Setting: Public schools in 1 American and 2 Czech cities. Participants:…

"Kids Count in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Colorado Children's Campaign, which provides the best available state- and county-level data to measure and track the education, health and general well-being of the state's children. "Kids Count in Colorado!" informs policy debates and community discussions, serving as…

The prevalence and severity of child and adolescent overweight (OW) in the United States have been documented, but little is known regarding the prevalence of OW and "Extent of Overweight" (EOW) in individual states or specific regions within states. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of OW and EOW in school-aged…

Children and adolescents in the United States are increasingly overweight at younger ages. Many studies have investigated the issue from the perspective of professionals and other adults. This study assessed early adolescents' perceptions regarding the magnitude of, effects of, causes of, solutions for, and learning preferences related to…

American children spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes each day using various forms of media. Research has suggested that this high level of exposure has a negative impact on children's attitudes and behaviors. For example, media violence increases aggression in children, especially video games which allows children to be the aggressor and…

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…