BACKGROUND 150 million children live with disabilities globally, and a recent systematic review found 3 to 4 times the levels of violence versus non-disabled children in high income countries. However, almost nothing is known about violence against disabled children in lower income countries. We aim to explore the prevalence, patterns and risk factors for physical, sexual and emotional violence...

BACKGROUND Slowing the decline in participation in physical activity among adolescent girls is a public health priority. This study reports the outcomes from a multi-component school-based intervention (Girls in Sport), focused on promoting physical activity among adolescent girls. METHODS Group randomized controlled trial in 24 secondary schools (12 intervention and 12 control). Assessments ...

The aim of this paper is to understand how peers can influence adolescent girls’ dieting behaviour and their body image. Departing from imitation and social learning theories, we study whether adolescent girls tend to model their peer group dieting behaviours, thus influencing their body image construction. Our study was conducted through an enquiry applied to a cluster sample of 466 adolescent...

IN THEIR EDUCATION FORUM “EVALUATING MONTESSORI EDUCATION” (29 SEPT. 2006, P. 1893), A. Lillard and N. Else-Quest present Montessori education as being superior to other types of schools and having “remarkable outcomes.” Unfortunately, the analyses backing these value judgments are plagued by methodological and statistical problems and thus do not provide support for such claims. To evaluate Mo...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of an obesity prevention intervention on use of self-induced vomiting/laxatives (purging) and diet pills to control weight in girls in early adolescence. DESIGN We matched and randomly assigned 10 middle schools to an intervention or a control condition in a randomized controlled trial. Longitudinal multivariable analyses using generalized estimating equations w...

BACKGROUND Physical activity is important for weight control and good health; however, activity levels decline in the adolescent years, particularly in girls. DESIGN Group randomized controlled trial. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS Middle school girls with English-speaking skills and no conditions to prevent participation in physical activity in 36 schools in six geographically diverse areas of the U...

BACKGROUND There are conflicting findings regarding the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and bone mineral density. We aimed to investigate bone status and its possible determinants by comparing students from two schools, located in a high and a low SES district. METHODS Data were gathered by using anthropometric measurements and a questionnaire for both families and the studen...

The influence of physical activity on body mass components has been studied using a sample of Moscow children. 195 girls and 259 boys of Russian ethnicity from 12 to 17 years old were investigated cross-sectionally in 2005 in different Moscow schools. According to the level of physical activity they were divided into three groups: 1-those who did not take part in regular physical exercise (44 b...

BACKGROUND Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency in adolescent girls from the developing world. One of the recommended interventions to improve iron status in adolescent girls is iron supplementation. Yet the provision of iron supplements to adolescent girls proved to be a challenging task for the health systems across the developing world. OBJECTIVE The objective of th...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-month multicomponent obesity prevention intervention. Setting. 9 elementary schools in Santiago, Chile. Subjects. 6-8 y old low-income children (N = 1474). DESIGN Randomized controlled study; 5 intervention/4 control schools. We trained teachers to deliver nutrition contents and improve the quality of PE classes. We determined % healthy snacks b...