Background: Obesity presents major challenges to public health in the United States. Trials of web-based interventions for weight control suggest that the Internet is a promising option for program delivery. Purpose: This study sought consensus among experts regarding critical components of successful weight control and to systematically examine…

Background: Peer mentoring can be a powerful complement to health instruction. Mentoring has been used to change health behaviors and promote sustainable lifestyle patterns in adults and, more recently, among adolescents. Purpose: This article reviews the use of peer mentoring to promote health practices and describes how this approach can be used…

Background: Coalitions are often the strategy of choice when needs are great, resources are few, and individual efforts have proven unsuccessful in addressing serious health issues. Despite the widespread use of coalitions and extensive research, no definitive list of factors predicting coalition success has been identified. One factor, social…

Background: Health educators are critical members of the health care team who may be called upon to provide nutrition education. However, are health educators prepared for this task? What have scholars concluded regarding this pertinent topic? Purpose: This study has three purposes: (1) to determine the definition of and criteria for nutrition…

According to "Healthy People 2020," one population confronted with health disparities is that of individuals living with disabilities. Among these individuals are children living with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Increasing numbers of children in the United States have been diagnosed with ASDs, a group of developmental disorders for which no…

Physical activity has many physical and mental health outcomes. However, physical inactivity continues to be common. Dance, specifically cultural dance, is a type of physical activity that may appeal to some who are not otherwise active and may be a form of activity that is more acceptable than others in certain cultures. The purpose of this paper…

The Internet is increasingly used as an outlet for sexual activity. This literature review explores key definitions, perceived benefits, risks, and consequences of engaging in cybersex, as well as its influence on youth and young adults. The accessibility, affordability, and anonymity of the Internet make it highly appealing to users. Increasing…

This study assessed internships associated with health education professional programs in the U.S. This study updates findings from an earlier survey published in 1990. Using the 2003 "AJHE" directory of institutions, 255 health education professional preparation programs were identified. Two hundred and eleven institutions had a health…

Authors reviewed the theoretical history of the "motivation" construct, and its utilization within past/current health behavior research. Textbooks and review articles functioned as sources for the theoretical history review. Research published within a 10-year period (1993-2002) in four health promotion journals (all with impact factors greater…

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most prevalent and widespread sexually transmitted disease and is responsible for almost all cases of cervical cancer worldwide. However, HPV has received little public health attention, is not a reportable STD, and often is absent from the repertoire of STDs. In addition, there is pervasive misinformation…

Advocacy and public policy were determined to be one of the six key focal points for the profession at the Health Education in the 21st Century meeting held in 1995. A content analysis of journals of the member organizations of the Coalition of National Health Education Organizations was conducted to discover whether there was a difference in the…

This article describes the development and validation of an instrument designed to measure the concept of intuitive eating. To ensure face and content validity for items used in the Likert-type Intuitive Eating Scale (IES), content domain was clearly specified and a panel of experts assessed the validity of each item. Based on responses from 391…

The resident population of Bamberg County, SC, has been exposed to multiples of public health information and education interventions since October 1982 with the intent to reduce the occurrence of unintended pregnancies among unmarried adolescents. Data analyses were conducted to compare 20 years of pregnancy rates among girls aged 14-17 years for…

This review evaluates the accuracy of diabetes mellitus coverage in selected mass-circulating women's magazines from 1995 through 2001. The ProQuest database was searched to obtain all citations from five women's magazines ("Better Homes and Gardens," "Good Housekeeping," "Ladies' Home Journal," "Family Circle," and "Woman's Day") and three…

Evaluated the literature related to dance forms having sociocultural or traditional/ceremonial influences (cultural dance). Research documented the benefits of dance- related cultural activity interventions among various subgroups of the population and the role and importance of cultural dance forms within diverse communities. The scant available…