Background: Early sexual reproductive health (SRH) education is linked to a reduction in risky sexual behaviors. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are rising at alarming rates. Risky sexual behaviors, including initiation of sex before age 13, having more than four sexual partners, and lack of use of condoms, increase the chance of infection…

Background: Internationally 18% of youth are obese. Fitness testing can be used to establish fitness surveillance, which can inform policy and targeted interventions aimed at addressing obesity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and low fitness in Idaho school-aged youth through a pilot study.…

Background: teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is an Australian school-based universal program for grade 10 to 12 students. tMHFA teaches teens how to recognize and respond to a peer in crisis or experiencing mental health concerns. Methods: Schools implementing tMHFA in 2019 and 2020 were propensity score matched, yielding a sample of…

Background: The comprehensive school health (CSH) framework has four components: social and physical environment; partnerships and services; teaching and learning; and policy. This study examines associations between CSH and student physical activity (PA). Methods: Using 2015/2016 COMPASS study survey data of 37,397 students (grades 9-12) from 80…

Background: Measuring adolescent perceptions of physical education (PE) activities is necessary in understanding determinants of school PE activity participation. This study assessed reliability and validity of the Physical Education Activities Scale (PEAS), a 41-item visual analog scale measuring high school adolescent perceptions of school PE…

Background: Childhood obesity continues to be a public health problem in the United States. Increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables (F/V) is one strategy for decreasing high consumption of energy-dense, high-fat foods, thereby improving weight status. Many Orleans Parish public schools were provided with salad bars (SBs) to augment school…

Background: Social capital in neighborhoods and workplaces positively affects health. Less is known about the influence of school social capital on student health outcomes, in particular weight status. We sought to examine the association between individual- and school-level social capital and student body mass index (BMI). Methods: Analyzing data…

Background: Male adolescents underutilize youth health centers' (YHC) services despite facing a variety of significant health issues. The purpose of our study was to explore adolescent males' perceptions of health service needs, utilization of YHC services, and barriers and facilitators for such utilization as a function of school grade among a…

Background: Understanding the cognitive attributions of smoking has the potential to advance youth smoking prevention efforts; however, research on this subject is limited in Asian countries. We attempted to determine the degree to which cognitive attributions of smoking differ among adolescents in 2 Asian countries, Thailand and South Korea.…