The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The national YRBS is conducted every two years during the spring semester and provides data representative of 9th through 12th grade…

Background: Weight-based victimization has become increasingly reported among overweight youth, but little is known about adolescents' perceptions and observations of weight-based teasing and bullying. This study examined adolescents' observations of and reactions to weight-based victimization toward overweight students at school. Methods:…

Background: This study assessed the association between amount of physical activity and body mass index (BMI) percentile among middle and high school children. Total daily physical activity needs to include both in and out of school physical activity. Methods: A secondary data analysis was performed on 1306 children drawn from the Panel Study of…

For more than 25 years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has used the data-based advocacy of KIDS COUNT to raise the visibility of children's issues and to inform decision making at the state and local levels. Building on this work and the efforts of other groups nationwide that are using indicator analysis to contribute to positive change for…

The school environment is an ideal setting for healthy weight programming with adolescents. The federal government has reinforced the importance of school-based health promotion. The current study examined the preliminary influence of the 2006 school wellness policy requirement of the "Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act"…

Despite knowledge that early pubertal timing predicts adolescent girls' substance use, it is still unclear whether this relationship persists beyond early adolescence and whether it is conditional on girls' body weight. This study examined the moderating role of body weight in the association between early pubertal timing and adolescent girls'…

This study aims to examine the relationship between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI) in two South Korean samples: children and adolescents. Nationally representative secondary data (i.e., the Korean Survey on the Obesity of Youth and Children) collected in 2009 were analyzed ("N" = 2,499 for children and "N" = 7,431 for…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Bullying and Suicidal Behaviors among High School Students in West Virginia; (2) Obesity and Dietary Behaviors among High School Students in West Virginia; (3) Alcohol and Drug Use among High School Students in West Virginia; (4) Injury and Violence among High School Students in West Virginia; (5)…

Objective: To examine the relationship between stores selling calorie-dense food near schools and student obesity risk, with the hypothesis that high availability predicts increased risk. Methods: Mail surveys determined height, weight, and calorie-dense food consumption for 552 students at 11 Maine high schools. Driving distance from all food…

Background: Approximately one-quarter of high school students currently use cigarettes. Previous research has suggested some youth use smoking as a method for losing weight. The purpose of this study was to describe the association of current cigarette use with specific healthy and unhealthy weight control practices among 9th-12th grade students…

Objectives: To investigate the association of current smoking with body mass index (BMI) and perceived body weight among high school students in the United States. Methods: We analyzed data from the 1999-2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results: Perceived body weight and BMI were associated with adolescents' current smoking. Adjusted odds ratios…

This report presents the 2011 Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey high school student frequency distributions for students with disabilities. These frequency distributions are based upon surveys with 1,672 high school students with disabilities in Montana during February of 2011. Frequency distributions may not total 1,672 due to nonresponse and…

In this paper we investigate how schoolmates influence high school dropout intentions in Catalonia, Spain. Our analysis uses self-reported friends to identify possible peers by assuming that peer influence flows in one direction in cases where one student identifies another as a friend, but the other does not reciprocate. We first estimate the…

Background: At school, physical education (PE) teachers and coaches may be key supports for physical activity. Unfortunately, PE teachers may endorse negative stereotypes and attitudes toward overweight youth. These biases may influence the amount of instruction physical educators provide to students and their participation in PE or other physical…

This report is a compendium of indicators about the Nation's young people. This report, the 23rd produced by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (Forum), presents 41 key indicators on important aspects of children's lives. These indicators are drawn from the most reliable Federal statistics, are easily understood by broad…