Objective: To explore the diabetes knowledge and future disease risk perception of college students. Participants: 697 college students were purposefully recruited at a large state university and completed an online survey. Methods: Diabetes knowledge, future disease risk perception, lifestyle, and demographic factors were assessed. Results: The…

We joined an initiative to engage faculty and undergraduate students in research by scheduling regular early college-level mathematics research presentations with pre- and post-lecture exercises. While our program featured six talks that were predominantly in the mathematical biosciences, the concept of creating themed topics for presentations can…

Background: Schools are an important setting for health promotion because they afford children and adolescents numerous opportunities to accumulate the recommended physical activity (PA) minutes and make other health-related decisions, including healthy eating. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of coordinated school-based health…

Some STEM outreach programs connect students to real-world problems and challenge them to work towards solutions. Research shows one-third of children between ages 5-17 in the U.S. are overweight. Socioeconomic status, race, and parental educational attainment all influence this issue as well as living in a rural or urban area. A rural high school…

The study aimed to explore how weight changes from childhood to adolescence influenced the performances of physical fitness. The participants (N = 115) were pre-tested when they were in kindergarten, first, or second grades (mean age = 7.25). The same participants were post-tested again after 6 years. The President's Challenge test battery was…

Poor sleep quality among college students increases the risk for lower grade point averages, compromised learning, impaired mood, and motor vehicle accidents; and associated with several unhealthy behaviors and outcomes including substances/drugs use (alcohol and medications), and weight gain. Therefore, we assessed college sleep quality in…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Alcohol and Drug Use; (2) Bullying and Suicidal Behaviors; (3) Dietary Behaviors; (4) Disease Prevention and Health Care Access; (5) Injury Risk and Violence Behaviors; (6) Physical Inactivity; (7) Sexual Behaviors; (8) Tobacco Use Behaviors; and (9) Weight Management. [For "[West Virginia Youth…

The epidemic of childhood obesity, and its subsequent impact on negative health outcomes, continues to plague the United States. Better health outcomes have been linked to increased child achievement in school. Due to the strong influence parents have on children's healthful behaviors particularly in younger years, it's imperative to examine the…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Alcohol and Drug Use; (2) Bullying and Suicidal Behaviors; (3) Dietary Behaviors; (4) Disease Prevention and Health Care Access; (5) Injury Risk and Violence; (6) Physical Inactivity; (7) Sexual Behaviors; (8) Tobacco Use; and (9) Weight Management. [For "[West Virginia Youth Risk Behavior/School…

This study assessed the anthropometrics and acanthosis nigricans (AN) in a sample of 7,337 children at two assessments. Four groups of children were identified based on the presence of AN at both time points: those who never had the marker, those who gained the marker, those who lost the marker, and those who maintained the marker. Group…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Alcohol and Drug Use among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (2) Bullying and Suicidal among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (3) Chronic Disease and Disease Prevention among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (4) Dietary Behaviors among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (5)…

As superintendent, the author works diligently to meet the demands by the West Virginia legislature, catalyzed by the aggressive role of West Virginia's First Lady Gayle Manchin, to fight child obesity. Recently, the state department of education agreed to enter the fight to curb the serious obesity and health problems among the children in the…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Bullying, Suicidal Behaviors, Violence, and Safety-Risk Behaviors among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (2) Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors among Middle School Students in West Virginia; and (3) Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Use among Middle School Students In West Virginia.

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)…

A pilot was conducted to test the feasibility and compare the effectiveness of a group approach (facilitated group discussions) to that of a self-guided approach (newsletters) to weight management in postpartum women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (baseline n = 151; final n = 64). Mean group…