College students at a large south Texas university have proven consistently that they have a higher-than-average Body Mass Index (BMI), spend less time per week engaged in physical activity, and in general feel that they are less healthy than students in a national cross-sectional survey of college students by the American College Health…

Advances in neonatal technology have improved survival rates of children born at lower and lower birthweight and after fewer and fewer weeks of gestation. However, these children are at increased risk of experiencing developmental delays. As weeks of gestation and birthweight decrease, the risk of developmental impairment and severity increases.…

This dissertation addresses several contemporary health challenges affecting the US population, drawing on methods and perspectives from health services research, social demography, and medical sociology. Paper 1 examines the pathways from educational attainment to difficulty with activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of…

Research has suggested that in typical developing children a positive relationship exists between physical activity level and cognitive functioning. For some children, academic performance may increase when levels of physical activity are increased. Moreover, some studies have supported the idea that physical activity seems to improve attention.…