Background: Healthy, productive employees are an integral part of school health programs. There have been few assessments of work productivity among secondary school staff. This study describes the frequency of 3 common health risk factors--obesity, depressive symptoms, and smoking--and their impact on work productivity in secondary school…

Refugees in the United States have high rates of chronic disease. Both long-term effects of the refugee experience and adjustment to the U.S. health environment may contribute. While there is significant research on health outcomes of newly resettled refugees and long-term mental health experiences of established refugees, there is currently…

School-based body mass index (BMI) notification programs are often used to raise parental awareness of childhood overweight and obesity, but how BMI results are associated with physical fitness and diet is less clear. This study examined the relationship between BMI, fitness, and diet quality in a diverse sample of urban schoolchildren…

Background: Models are needed for implementing weight management interventions for adolescents through readily accessible venues. This study evaluated the feasibility and ef?cacy of a school nurse-delivered intervention in improving diet and activity and reducing body mass index (BMI) among overweight and obese adolescents. Methods: Six high…

This case study addresses two major priorities of the Boston Foundation--health and education. Since the 2007 publication of the "Understanding Boston" report "The Boston Paradox: Lots of Health Care, Not Enough Health," the Boston Foundation has worked to draw attention to the epidemic of preventable chronic disease that not…

Childhood obesity may be lessened by parent-focused interventions. A pilot parent-directed trial with 46 parents of overweight and obese elementary school students was conducted at two ethnically diverse public schools in Framingham, Massachusetts. Parents were randomly assigned to either the Materials Group, which received mailed educational…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data in the weekly "MMWR" are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments. This issue of "MMWR" contains the following studies: (1) Youth Risk Behavior…