Increasing physical activity among America's youth is critical in helping to combat chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Therefore, finding the right sporting activities for the youth is important, as is making appropriate biomechanical adjustments or behavior modifications that create a safer means of participation. In this article, the…

Contributors to excessive obesity in rural youth include well-documented nutrition and physical activity behaviors. However, emerging research suggests that preventing excessive weight gain and smoking during pregnancy, teen pregnancy, and child abuse also could reduce obesity in this vulnerable population. These traditional and emerging,…

Objective: To examine associations between television viewing, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, eating out, physical activity, and body weight change over 1 year. Design: Secondary data analysis from randomized intervention trial. Setting: Households in the community. Participants: Adults (n = 153) and adolescents (n = 72) from the same…

National and local polices have positioned schools to play an integral role in addressing the obesity epidemic by establishing preventive activities. Teachers are ideally suited to have a role in this process because teachers have direct and indirect impacts on student health outcomes. The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the health…

A new dialogue-based curriculum combines nutrition, active play and parenting practices to help parents and caregivers gain skills that promote healthy habits for themselves and their families and to create healthy environments where children live, learn, and play. Graduates report significant improvements in behaviors that promote healthy weights…

Problem: Priority health-risk behaviors contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults. Population-based data on these behaviors at the national, state, and local levels can help monitor the effectiveness of public health interventions designed to protect and promote the health of youth nationwide. Reporting…

This collection of fact sheets includes: (1) Alcohol and Drug Use among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (2) Bullying and Suicidal among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (3) Chronic Disease and Disease Prevention among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (4) Dietary Behaviors among Middle School Students in West Virginia; (5)…

This list of resources offers promising strategies that communities and policymakers can use to make sustainable advances in achieving equitable transportation systems. Resources are organized into seven categories: transportation equity, Safe Routes to School, school siting, complete streets, non-motorized transportation, community design, and…

Healthy students perform better. Poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity can affect not only academic achievement, but also other factors such as absenteeism, classroom behavior, ability to concentrate, self-esteem, cognitive performance, and test scores. This toolkit provides information to help make schools the model for healthier…

Objective: To ascertain paraprofessionals' perceptions regarding a self-directed computer-supported nutrition educational intervention to disadvantaged mothers of infants. Design: Qualitative focus group study. Setting: Three county extension programs in a Midwestern state, which serve disadvantaged families. Method: Sixteen paraprofessional…

Objective: To determine the impact of My Student Body (MSB)-Nutrition, an Internet-based obesity prevention program for college students. Participants: Three hundred and twenty ethnically diverse undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: MSB-Nutrition program, an on-campus weight management course, and a comparison group.…

This article reviews the research on health promotion for adults aging with developmental disabilities. First, it examines barriers to healthy aging, including health behaviors and access to health screenings and services. Second, it reviews the research on health promotion interventions, including physical activity interventions, health education…

Background: The Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls (HBHS) program aims to reduce diabetes risk among urban African Americans by creating healthy food and physical activity environments within churches. Participant engagement supports the development of applicable intervention strategies by identifying priority concerns, resources, and opportunities.…

The purpose of this study was to implement a weight-related teasing prevention program and evaluate the effectiveness of the program among adolescents. One hundred forty-three students in 7th-grade in health classes at the middle school were asked to participate in the study. The weight-related teasing prevention program was implemented as part of…

The Central Texas Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Middle School Project is a 3.5-year school-based project aimed at promoting physical activity (PA), healthy eating, and obesity prevention among public middle school students in Texas. This article describes the CATCH intervention model and presents baseline findings from spring 2009.…