High schools play a critical role in preparing students for careers, college, and citizenship. Thus, disparities in educational outcomes from high school may contribute to longterm disparities in educational, economic, and social outcomes throughout adulthood. At the same time, reducing these disparities may play a critical role in reducing disparities in adult outcomes and improving the lives ...

Childhood obesity is well-recognized as a pressing medical problem with projected long-term health and economic consequences.1–3 Low socioeconomic,4 rural,5,6 and minority populations are known to have particularly high risk.7,8 the school setting is often noted to be a logical setting for intervention to reach the largest number of children,9,10 with attention shifting to middle schools to tar...

Current estimates suggest that between 8 and 22% of children and adolescents may suffer from an anxiety disorder. Effective intervention efforts are therefore clearly needed to reduce the likelihood of anxious symptoms and promote healthy functioning. One intervention that appears feasible for use in schools and was designed to target anxiety symptoms is the FRIENDS for Life program. Evaluation...

Following a wave of dental school closures from 1986 to 2001 and a perceived shortage of dentists, three new dental schools were established between 1997 and 2003, and eight more are in various stages of planning and development to open over the next decade. Conditions are moving rapidly, and several institutions have stated intentions to open new dental schools since this analysis. This articl...

OBJECTIVES To examine 3-year trends and spatial clustering in the prevalence of obesity among elementary-aged children in Pennsylvania. METHODS Height and weight were measured for ~980 000 children between ages 5 and 12 years, corresponding to kindergarten through grade 6 in 3 consecutive school years (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009). These data were obtained at the school district level and...

Children of today are citizens of tomorrow. As Nehru rightly said “If we do not look after children today, we will be creating more problems for ourselves in future”. The health of children and youth is of fundamental value. Health services for school children are a must for building a healthy young India. 1,2 Over one fifth of our population comprise of children aged 5-14 years and only about ...

The opportunities for healthy choices in homes, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces can have decisive impacts on health. We review scientific evidence from promising interventions focused on the social determinants of health and discuss how such interventions can improve population health and reduce health disparities. We found sufficient evidence of successful outcomes to support disparity-...

Randomized controlled trial evidence shows that interventions before age 5 can improve skills necessary for educational success; the effect of these interventions on socioeconomic inequalities is unknown. Using trial effect estimates, and marginal structural models with data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 11,764, imputed), simulated effects of plausible interventi...

PURPOSE Although disaster exposure has been linked with increased child aggression by previous reports, population-level trends are unknown. Pre- to post-Katrina changes in violence-related behaviors among New Orleans high school youth (ages: 12-18 years) were assessed. METHODS Data from the 2003 (pre-Katrina), 2005 (pre-Katrina), and 2007 (post-Katrina) New Orleans Youth Risk Behavior Survey...