Examined whether the 11-lesson "Healthy Body Image: Teaching Kids to Eat and Love Their Bodies Too!" curriculum would have a positive effect on upper elementary students. Pretest- posttest measures indicated that, compared to control children, children who completed the curriculum showed significant or notable improvement regarding body image,…

The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) is the largest school-based health promotion research project to date, involving 96 elementary schools nationwide. The article describes recruitment strategies used at four sites, examines how social learning theory guided project activities, discusses logistical considerations, and…

Examines selected components of existing school smoking policies in schools nationwide as part of the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation. Schools were questioned about their smoking policies, related resources, and compliance. Results indicated that school tobacco use policies consistently failed to meet the conditions for health…

This commentary addresses the role of behavior and learning in children's liking and eating of vegetables and candy, discussing the results from research with preschool children concerning their development of food preferences and the social context of eating. Practical applications of the research results for schools are presented. (SM)

The Healthy Learners Asthma Initiative (HLAI) involved collaboration between Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), local health care providers/payors, parents, and other partners. The intervention included development of enhanced asthma care in school health offices and clinic performance improvement projects to foster adoption of National Institutes…

The author (1) presents data drawn from a fourteen-week program on oral health care involving second-grade students; (2) concludes that such a program is successful in promoting short-term behavioral change; and (3) stresses the need for periodic reinforcement and repetition to assure behavior maintenance over time. (MB)

Described is a community supported program for the detection of heart disease in school children. The methods and results of a heart sound screening program are reported. (BY)

Two studies assessed the effectiveness of a health education curriculum geared toward teaching resistance to pressure to smoke. One study investigated pupil ability to identify persuasion and resistance skills portrayed in videotaped recordings. The other study examined the effectiveness of videotapes as a teacher training device. (CJ)

This study examined the effectiveness of an inservice elementary health education training. Pretesting and posttesting of teachers who did and did not participate indicated that intervention participants scored significantly higher on efficacy and outcome expectations subscales, taught more hours of health, and put more effort into specific health…

This study investigated whether bias was evident in teacher referrals to the school nurse by examining referrals from seven elementary schools. The 117 children referred for nonroutine nursing interventions were compared with 3,787 children not referred. There were no differences by gender but significant differences by socioeconomic status and…

Examined the status of health-education preparation for preservice elementary education majors in Ohio colleges, noting the types of required courses and the extent to which schools incorporated health and pedagogy-related content in their courses. Surveys of Ohio college faculty indicated that 40 of 50 institutions had a required health course.…

Evaluated the impact of two elementary level school based health centers (SBHCs), located in schools within high-poverty, inner city neighborhoods, on emergency department visits by children enrolled in the SBHC. Overall, SBHCs resulted in significant decreases in non-urgent emergency department visits, but not in urgent visits. Medicaid-insured…

Assessed lifetime and recent alcohol use among fifth graders, examining students' attitudes and beliefs concerning alcohol. Surveys of 813 students indicated that 48.9 percent had ever tried alcohol, and 17.9 percent had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Significant differences in alcohol-related attitudes and beliefs were found according to…

A school nurse recorded the characteristics of elementary school children who visited her office over a six-month period. Observations showed that: (1) health-seeking behavior is a learned process; (2) no differences were apparent in how often boys or girls visited the office; and (3) recurrent health problems contributed to visit frequency.…

The multiagency approach to health curriculum development can lower or eliminate many of the barriers communities face when endeavoring to upgrade the health curriculum of their schools, allow the upgrading process to be funded and staffed adequately, and gain sufficient public support because it is operated by an agency which deals with broad…