Introduction: The sudden changes in school educational modality due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation have affected the lifestyle, mental and emotional health, and perception of their academic training in students with high intellectual abilities. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictor variables of sleepiness, satisfaction…

Background: Youth from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse families are at increased risk for academic challenges and nutritionally inadequate diets. Summer programs offer an opportunity to foster interest and engage students in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education while addressing summer learning loss.…

Children's health literacy is a crucial pillar of health. This study is aimed to examine the association between health literacy and weight status among Greek schoolchildren aged 10 to 12 years old. A population-based, cross-sectional observational study enrolling 1,728 students (795 boys), aged 10 to 12 years old, was conducted during school…

Background: Most children do not eat enough fruits and vegetables (FV). Schools are a critical setting for supporting children to consume FV. To fill a gap in available materials, a classroom curriculum was developed and evaluated to determine impacts on student FV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Methods: A pre-/post-intervention…

Background: In Spartanburg County, SC, nearly 33.7% of children are overweight or obese. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in eating behavior of youth by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Methods: Students (N = 997) in 4th to 5th grades completed the School Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. School databases…

This study aimed to identify attitudes towards different uses of animals in two groups of students: 264 pupils from the 6th year of schooling and 199 from the 9th, using an adaptation of the Animal Attitude Scale -- 10-item version. Inferential statistics was used to check differences between groups, and in each group considering gender and mammal…

Background: Children's participation in cooking activities at home may have positive effects on diet quality. In Japan, schools are the primary site for food education, which includes cooking. Very few studies have assessed the impact of school-based cooking programmes on children's participation in cooking activities at home. Objective: The…

Super Star Chef is an experiential summer youth nutrition education and cooking program designed to enhance participants' nutrition knowledge, food preparation skills, cooking self-efficacy, and intention to eat more fruits and vegetables. In a program evaluation comprising a single-sample pretest-posttest design, participants' pretest and…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs serve youth from diverse demographic backgrounds. OST programs, whose informal settings provide opportunities for experiential learning, can address this problem by implementing nutrition and food-preparation programming to improve participants' dietary knowledge and behaviors. In this article, the authors…

Background: Physical activity (PA) has long been acknowledged to contribute health benefits among children. However, research has consistently shown that PA declines as children grow older. Thus, this study examined the factors which are associated to children's PA in order to identify potential barriers to PA. Methods: Using data from the…

This study evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a 12-week "Guys/Girls Opt for Activities for Life" (GOAL) intervention on 10- to 13-year-old adolescents' body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, physical activity (PA), diet quality, and psychosocial perceptions related to PA and healthy eating.…

Background: Highly processed foods are inexpensive and abundant in our food supply, nutritionally poor, and disproportionately marketed to minority youth. This study is part of a curriculum development project to develop, implement, and evaluate the "In Defense of Food" (IDOF) curriculum designed to increase intake of whole/minimally…

Background: National data confirm that youth are not eating recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables (F/V), legumes, and whole grains (WGs). Establishing plant-based eating patterns early in life may positively impact long-term health through tracking of adolescent eating patterns into adulthood and through potential associations between…

Many youth programs focused on improving health outcomes have not examined parent/caregiver perceptions post-participation even though they may significantly influence youth behaviors. The primary purpose of this study was to examine changes in adult perceptions of youth- and family-related behavior after youth participated in a 12-week…

Objective: To increase nutrition knowledge, fruit and vegetable preference, eating and cooking self-efficacy among 3rd- to 5th-grade students after a 6-week school-based nutrition education intervention. Design: Quasi-experimental pre-post design. Setting: Title I elementary schools, South Plains, West Texas. Method: A nutrition education…