This article describes the adaptation of a parent-focused evidence-based childhood obesity intervention program for implementation by county-based Extension educators in coordination with school district personnel in rural Pennsylvania. The Lifestyle Positive Parenting Program was designed and evaluated in Australia in clinical settings. Several…

Between 400,000 and 800,000 infants are born in the United States each year to women who smoked cigarettes during their pregnancy. Whereas the physical health consequences to infants of prenatal exposure to smoking are well established, the early neurobehavioral consequences are less well understood. This study investigated the neurobehavioral…

This paper describes how Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHHN), a large tertiary care urban hospital, used discussion suppers as a means for community engagement designed to lead to community health improvement. An overview of the implementation of the project is described. In 1996, with an awareness of the need to address…

The number of overweight children and adolescents in the U.S. has reached epidemic proportions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2000, the CDC estimated that 15 percent of the nation's youth were overweight. Overweight children and adolescents are exposed to many health risks, most notably the increased risk…

Caring Start is a mobile-clinic program that provides prenatal care, well-baby clinics, childhood immunizations, counseling services, and contraceptives to rural poor families in northwest Pennsylvania. Before the mobile clinic, many rural women (mostly teenagers) went without prenatal health care due to lack of transportation. (LP)

This Kids Count report examines statewide trends in the well-being of Pennsylvania's children. The statistical portrait is based on trends in 17 indicators of child well being: (1) birth weight; (2) early prenatal care; (3) infant mortality; (4) substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect; (5) out-of-home placements; (6) delinquent children…