In the article, "Are the kids alright? Examining the intersection between education and mental health," Humphrey examines the zeitgeist of mental health service delivery within education. He posits that education and children's mental health services have undergone significant transformations, yet gaps in treatment remain. Moreover,…

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP) coordinate physical activity opportunities for school-age children through physical education, programs offered before/after school and during the school day, and those facilitated through staff involvement and community engagement. An active school is considered to implement quality physical…

By the time a child graduates from high school, they will have spent an estimated 15,600 hours at school. Because a significant amount of children's daily water intake comes from school water fountains, ensuring their access to safe drinking water at school is essential for their overall health. And one key health challenge that schools across the…

Humphrey is right in stressing the importance of child and adolescent mental health. Mental disorders commonly emerge during adolescence and can persist into adulthood with adverse consequences for adult mental health, social outcomes and economic productivity (Patton et al., 2014). It is important to add how important it is to prevent and to…

Adverse parenting practices, including child maltreatment, interfere with children's adjustment and life outcomes. In this article, Ronald Prinz describes the Triple P--Positive Parenting Program, designed to improve parenting population-wide. Prinz offers four main reasons to take a population approach. First, official records grossly…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of classroom-based physical activity interventions that integrate academic content and assess the effectiveness of the interventions on physical activity, learning, facilitators of learning, and health outcomes. Method: Six electronic databases (ERIC, PubMed, Google Scholar,…

The "2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book" urges policymakers not to back away from targeted investments that help U.S. children become healthier, more likely to complete high school and better positioned to contribute to the nation's economy as adults. The "Data Book" also shows the child poverty rate in 2015 continued to drop, landing…

This dissertation evaluates the impact of elementary school policies on child health behaviors and obesity in the United States. Two chapters address nutrition policies, two chapters address physical activity policies, and a final chapter estimates the health care cost savings associated with a decline in childhood obesity prevalence. The use of…

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways. It affects approximately 12% of American children, and it appears that that incidence is increasing. Asthma in children negatively influences school-based outcomes such as absenteeism and friendship formation. Potential triggers of asthma include environmental allergens, exercise, weather, and emotional…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that 16-33% of children and adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese, making this the number one nutritional disease of this group. The prevalence appears to be increasing annually, as are the associated consequences. Moreover, the CDC estimates that less than…

The greatest health risk facing children today is obesity. The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has risen dramatically in the past several decades. Because children on the average spend up to five or six hours a day involved in sedentary activities, including excessive time watching television, using the computer and playing…

Regular physical activity participation throughout childhood provides benefits to physical (Malina, Bouchard, & Bar-Or, 2004), physiological (Andersen, Wedderkopp, Hansen, Cooper, & Froberg, 2003), and psychological health (Mutrie & Parfitt, 1998). In recognition of these benefits, guidelines have been published in the United States…

Cultural competency in the delivery of mental health services has gained considerable momentum. This momentum has been accompanied by questions about the meaning, usefulness, and precision of cultural competency. The author argues that cultural competency is composed of general processes (scientific mindedness, dynamic sizing, and culture-specific…

While psychology has tended to focus on urban issues in research and practice, rural areas have undergone a series of changes in recent years that have increased the need for behavioral health services. A variety of social and economic factors has contributed both to the increasing needs and to the inability of the existing services to meet them.…

Although rates of childhood obesity among the general population are alarmingly high, they are higher still in ethnic minority and low-income communities. The disparities pose a major challenge for policymakers and practitioners planning strategies for obesity prevention. In this article Shiriki Kumanyika and Sonya Grier summarize differences in…