Background: Studies of body mass index (BMI) change have focused on understanding growth trajectories from childhood to adolescence and adolescence to adulthood, but few have explored BMI trajectories solely in elementary (grades K-5) school children. This report complements these studies by exploring changes in obesity status using analytic…

Background: Body mass index (BMI) increases when students are away on summer vacation. Evaluation of serial BMI measurements on year-round students allows new insight into the reasons children gain weight seasonally. Methods: The 206 first and second graders of 2-year-round elementary schools with obesity intervention programs were weighed and…

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity is high, particularly among minority youth. The objective of this article was to evaluate parent and school staff perspectives of childhood health and weight qualitatively to guide the development of a school-based obesity prevention program for minority youth. Methods: Hispanic parents (N?=?9) of…

This article offers a brief and personal account of the historical background, implementation and principal findings from the Trois-Rivieres regional project, a large-scale quasi-experimental intervention that tested the impact of providing a daily hour of specialist-taught quality physical education upon the physical and mental development of…

Background: Overweight and obesity occur in 17% of children in the United States. Complications of excess weight in Americans cause 216,000 to 300,000 deaths yearly and cost $147 billion. Methods: A convenience sample of 14 intervention and 15 control schools in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh was used. A program to improve lifestyle (Values…

Policies and programs aimed at increasing educational and economic opportunities typically target either low-income children or their mothers, but not both, which limits their impact in fostering intergenerational mobility. This insight undergirds the development and implementation of dual-generation strategies, which focus simultaneously on both…

Background: Despite the growing number of school-based interventions designed to reduce childhood obesity or otherwise promote health, no models or materials were found for Jewish schools. The current study describes an effort within a Jewish school system in Chicago to create, implement, and evaluate a school-based intervention tailored to the…