Background and Purpose: Given the urgency to design programs to increase physical activity, especially to combat obesity in children, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions and opinions of a nature-based physical activity intervention designed for low-income urban adolescents. Methods: Four focus groups of adolescents,…

Describes an under-recognized target population for adolescent pregnancy prevention: the younger sisters of childbearing teens. Data from several studies highlight several potential prepregnancy-risk characteristics that are particularly present in this group. These young women have disproportionately higher rates of early pregnancy and…

Urban areas are the sites of many smoking prevention strategies targeting special populations. This digest provides an overview of these initiatives. Adolescents smoke for the same reasons that they use alcohol and other drugs. Personal factors that contribute to risk are enhanced by tobacco company advertising that makes smoking seem attractive.…

This booklet presents the youth development approach to supporting adolescents in dealing with all the issues they face, including preventing unintended pregnancies. The Department of Health and Human Services promotes five principles that research and experience suggest are key to community efforts to prevent teen pregnancy: (1) parental and…

This manual is a guide to setting up a project to work with disadvantaged urban youth. It is based on the Dalston Youth Project, an English program that combines mentoring with an education program to reconnect young people to mainstream education, training, and employment opportunities. The manual is designed to be used by statutory bodies,…

This is the third in a series of reports summarizing the investment of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in community-based health programming. It addresses the health issues confronting young people in U.S. society by profiling eight different community-based approaches to adolescent health. The programs described, all sponsored by the Kellogg…

Interviewed 420 street youths in a midwestern city to analyze their sexual behaviors. Ninety-one percent were sexually active, and nearly half were engaged in sex for survival. Discusses the need to coordinate comprehensive social services to prevent an increase in the number of street youth. (SLD)

Plain Talk is a neighborhood-based initiative aimed at helping adults, parents, and community leaders develop the skills and tools they need to communicate effectively with young people about reducing adolescent sexual risk-taking. Plain Talk was implemented in five urban neighborhoods in: Atlanta (Georgia); San Diego (California): Seattle…

This study examined the specific nature of the relationship between involvement in various risk-taking behaviors and levels of gang involvement. Forty-nine high school students, 24 girls and 25 boys, ages 14 to 18, from a rural Texas community, completed a gang involvement questionnaire and the Risk Inventory and Perception Scale during individual…

Focuses on recent studies that explore the relationships between poverty and child outcomes in depth. Overall, this research supports the conclusion that family income has selective, but sometimes quite substantial, effects on child and adolescent well-being. Implications for interventions during childhood are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses a second kind of national debt, that of adolescents and young adults who do not reach their potential because of pregnancy or other consequences of sexual activity. Programs to reduce this loss of potential must be based on a desire-based climate of hopefulness and possibility for success. (SLD)

This report is a synthesis of what Public/Private ventures (P/PV) (Pennsylvania) has learned in 8 years of research into mentoring for adolescents. It also identifies the key issues that remain open with regard to mentoring. An impact study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters provides definitive evidence that youth can obtain benefits from participating…

The Teens, Crime, and the Community Program presents practical information and problem-solving opportunities to help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to deal with crime issues. The program and its curriculum advance the idea that teens can contribute energy and talent to the improvement of their communities. This text is part of…

Plain Talk is a community-based initiative designed to assist neighborhood groups and residents in creating and implementing locally acceptable and effective strategies to protect sexually active youth from pregnancy. Plain Talk aims to affect individual, neighborhood, and community behavior through a process that focuses on helping adults develop…

Young people can be, and must be, partners in community drug prevention efforts. This book discusses teen successes in drug prevention, telling how and where it is happening and how to make it happen in the community. Teens are shown forging vital partnerships with schools, law enforcement, community agencies, and others. The focus is on…